Australian Open tennis
Blake knocks off close friend Ginepri MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – James Blake could shrug it off with a joke and the offer of a free meal. Maybe even a trip to the casino.
Blake, seeded fifth, moved into the second week at the Australian Open at the expense of a close friend Saturday, ending Robby Ginepri’s run with a 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 victory.
He saved five set points – one in the tiebreaker and four in the second – and said that was the only difference between winning and losing.
“He’s one of my best friends on the tour, so that makes it tougher,” said Blake, offering to make it up to Ginepri on Sunday, his day off before playing No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round.
“I’ll give him a call, and hopefully I can treat him to dinner or something. He’s been having good luck so far at the casino. Hopefully, that will rub off on me.”
Ginepri, who reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2005, thinks Blake has what it takes to go deep. Blake has twice reached the quarterfinals at majors, both at the U.S. Open.
“He’s hitting the ball really clean, and hopefully can go all the way,” Ginepri said. “I told him after the match that it was his time – he’s looking at a semi or a final here.”
Blake was last to qualify for last year’s season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, China, and beat No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko and defending champion David Nalbandian before losing to top-ranked Roger Federer in the final. He enters the round of 16 after successfully defending his Sydney International title last week.
“He’s been doing the right things and progressing the right way … taking a Grand Slam is the next step,” Ginepri said.
Nadal and Davydenko also advanced to the fourth round with straight-sets wins, while eighth-seeded Nalbandian rallied from two sets down and saved match points to win in five again.
Gonzalez held off 2005 runner-up Lleyton Hewitt in four, ousting the last Australian in the men’s and women’s singles draws.
Nadal next plays 19-year-old Andy Murray of Scotland, the only player other than him to beat Federer last year. No. 15 Murray beat Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the fourth round at his third consecutive major.
Federer, the defending champion, plays 14th-seeded Novak Djokovic on Sunday, looking to improve his winning streak to 33 matches and move closer to his 10th Grand Slam title.
Women’s defending champion Amelie Mauresmo opens play on center court against Lucie Safarova, followed by Andy Roddick-Mario Ancic and Serena Williams-Jelena Jankovic.
Rain soaked drought-ridden Melbourne on Saturday, and only matches on the two main show courts went ahead, under closed roofs.
Top-seeded Maria Sharapova, No. 4 Kim Clijsters and No. 6 Martina Hingis wasted no time progressing.
Sharapova defeated No. 30 Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-1 and next plays Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, who upset No. 13 Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2.
Clijsters beat Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2; and Hingis ousted Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-1. Patty Schnyder, Hingis’ Swiss compatriot, also advanced, downing Australia’s Alicia Molik 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
In the morning, Rod Laver Arena was like a sauna for Sharapova’s match because of an air conditioning problem. Still, the 19-year-old Russian preferred that to her three hours in searing sun during her opening win, when she said the heat made her delusional.
Sharapova, the U.S. Open champ, lost two of her first three service games Saturday.
“I thought I was a bit slow in the beginning, was letting her play her game a little too much,” she said. “But as the match went on I saw the short balls a lot quicker, put pressure on her.”
Nadal, who has played all three of his matches with the roof closed, stopped No. 31 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
“I played my best today for sure for a long time,” he said. “I played a very complete match.”
He was challenged by Wawrinka only on the last point, after curling a forehand winner deep into the right corner. The pair walked to the net – with Wawrinka challenging the “in” call – and shook hands when replays confirmed the ball was good.
“If I continue playing like today, I have a chance for a win,” Nadal said.
Nalbandian went the distance and saved match points for the second time in three rounds. The 2002 Wimbledon finalist beat Sebastien Grosjean 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-1, fending off three match points in the third set from 0-40 and 4-5. Asked if he gets pleasure out of coming back from two sets down, Nalbandian said, “No, no, no!”
“Honestly, I prefer winning in three,” he said. “Sometimes matches are more complicated.”
Blake faced some complications in playing Ginepri.
“I want the best for him, but obviously I’ve got to go out there and do my job,” he said. “I want to win, no matter who I’m up against. Once it comes to playing, as you could see, we’re fighting our hearts out.”
During a stretch spanning the first and second sets, Blake yielded only three points in seven service games. He appeared in control with an early break in the second set, only for Ginepri to run off four straight games and serve for the set at 5-4. Ginepri had four set points in a game that went to deuce six times before Blake whacked consecutive forehand winners down the line, converting his fourth break point.
Ginepri slammed his racket in the game after he was broken to give Blake a 3-1 lead in the final set.
“We buried the hatchet already. No hard feelings,” said Ginepri, 2-3 against Blake. “It’s not like I want to be all buddy buddy with him right now. But if I stick around tomorrow and hang out … we’ll probably talk about the match.”
At the end, the pair made a pact.
“He said to me, ‘Let’s get a Grand Slam.’ That means a lot to me that he really thinks of us as a team,” Blake said. “If he had won, I probably would have said the same thing.
“We want to bring home a Slam. Roger has been hoarding them all in Switzerland. We’d like to get one back to the States.”