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Blake falters, books quarter-final berth

James Blake of the US returns a shot to his compatriot Paul Goldstein in the Countrywide Classic on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday. PHOTO: EPA

James Blake started fast and finished strong. He struggled in between before serving three straight aces to close out a 6-0, 1-6, 7-5 win over Paul Goldstein in the second round of the ATP Countrywide Classic on Thursday.

The No. 2 seed, and the favorite following top seed Fernando Gonzalez's loss on Tuesday, Blake was to face Vincent Spadea in the quarter-finals yesterday. Spadea celebrated his 33rd birthday by beating fifth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3.

Also advancing on Thursday were Zack Fleishman -- 7-6 (4), 6-3 over Robert Kendrick -- and Radek Stepanek, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over sixth-seeded Mardy Fish.

Blake, 27, is making his first appearance in the quarter-finals of the tournament at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. He bowed out in the first round in 2001 and the second round in 2005.

Goldstein, 30, had been a quarter-finalist for the second time last year and was in position to get there again until Blake hit a forehand winner for a service break and a 6-5 lead in the third set. Then Blake made sure Goldstein did not have a chance to break back by serving his 10th, 11th and 12th aces of the match on the final three points.

"I know how well Paul can play and how much fight he has," Blake said. "A lot of guys get down 6-0 and kind of throw in the towel. He didn't stop fighting. That's why he's one of the best competitors out here."

Spadea, who said he's still trying to maximize his potential, called the 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 5 seen Dmitry Tursunov "a great mental match for me." Spadea advanced to the quarter-finals of a tournament for the seventh time this year, though he has reached the semis just once.

Fleishman, who beat top-seeded Fernando Gonzalez on Tuesday, beat fellow American Robert Kendrick, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to reach the quarters. Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, ousted No. 6 seed Mardy Fish, 6-2, 6-2.

After losing the first set, Spadea trailed 5-3 in the second after having his service broken for the second time. He won the next four games and the set, losing only four points in the process. Then he got a service break in the fifth game of the third set to take a 3-2 lead and closed it out with a break in the ninth game thanks to a pair of double faults by Tursunov.

Govortsova upsets Craybas

Unseeded teen Olga Govortsova of Belarus reached the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament for the first time on Thursday by beating ninth-seeded Jill Craybas of the US 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 at the Cincinnati Women's Open.

Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan also advanced to the quarter-finals of an event higher than Tier IV for the first time with a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory over Bethanie Mattek of the US.

Govortsova, 18, coming off a defeat to finalist Marion Bartoli in the second round at Wimbledon, rebounded from a loss in the first-set tiebreaker and dominated the 33-year-old Craybas in the final two sets. The 107th-ranked Govortsova, who lost to Craybas on hard courts at a satellite tour event in February, closed out the match by breaking her 66th-ranked opponent with a forehand down the line.

Anastia Rodionova of Russia, who was defaulted from her first-round match for what tournament referee William Coffey called "unsportsmanlike conduct" after she smacked a ball in frustration in the direction of some fans on Tuesday, has been fined US$5,000 by the WTA Tour. Rodionova is still playing doubles in the tournament with Lilia Osterloh of the US.

Nadal breezes past local hero

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal survived an injury scare to make the quarter-finals at Stuttgart's ATP tournament with a straight sets win over local hero Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Nadal, the tournament favorite, had to be treated for a knee injury early in his 6-3, 6-3 win over the German and admitted he was worried whether he could play on and stay on course for his sixth ATP tournament win of the year.

The Spaniard said it was a similar pain to the one he suffered in the final at Wimbledon this month, where he was beaten over five sets by Roger Federer.

The biggest upset of the day came when third seed Tomas Berdych was dumped out of the second round in straight sets by Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, ranked 74 places below him, who took just over 50 minutes to beat the world number 10.

Having been white-washed 6-0 in the first set, Berdych, who won his only title of the year so far at Halle last month, rallied briefly in the second set but went down 6-0, 6-3 to Lopez, who was to face compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero yesterday.

Monaco beat Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 while sixth-seeded Ferrero had a tough time beating Argentina's Diego Hartfield in three sets in just more than two hours.

Radwanska on a roll

Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland extended her winning streak to seven matches by beating Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Palermo International quarter-finals.

The 18-year-old Radwanska won a minor tournament in the northern Italian town of Biella last week and reached a career-high No. 33 in the WTA Tour rankings this week

Zakopalova was the runner-up in this clay-court tournament in 2005 but had to qualify this year.

Fourth-seeded Emilie Loit advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kira Nagy of Hungary.
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