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Nadal beats Blake in Miami quarters

Elena Dementieva of Russia returns a shot against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia during day 10 of the Sony Ericsson Open at the Crandon Park Tennis Center on Wednesday in Key Biscayne, Florida. PHOTO: AFP

Rafael Nadal converted only four of 19 break-point chances yet still beat James Blake 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday.

Jelena Jankovic advanced to the women’s semi-finals when Elena Dementieva retired with a back injury trailing 6-3, 3-1.

Nadal’s first service break came with a ferocious backhand passing shot for a 5-3 lead in the second set. He broke three more times in the final set, including on the final point. When a demoralized Blake hit his last forehand long, Nadal leaped and punched the air.

“Right now I am feeling like I am playing at my best level,” Nadal said.

Ranked No. 2, Nadal is seeking his first tournament title this year and his first title at Key Biscayne. Today he’ll play 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat No. 31 Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-4.

He will play the winner of a match late Wednesday between No. 10-seeded Tomas Berdych and No. 31 Igor Andreev.

Blake said he felt fine physically in the afternoon heat and could have played three more sets, but he blamed himself for allowing Nadal back into the match.

Dementieva said her back began bothering her on Tuesday, and she called it quits against Jankovic after 58 minutes.

The loss ended an eight-match winning streak for the 10th-seeded Dementieva.

No. 4 Jankovic barely survived her opening match in the tournament. In the third set against Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, Jankovic overcame a 5-1 deficit, then saved five match points in a tiebreaker.

“It was a scary feeling, you know, just thinking that I may be over with this tournament,” Jankovic said. “But I was really strong mentally and was able to get through that match, which gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament.”

The Serb has since swept every set in the past three matches.

Jankovic had never advanced beyond the third round in five previous appearances at Key Biscayne. She’s seeking her first tournament title this year, and on Thursday she’ll face 19th-seeded Vera Zvonareva, who beat No. 13 Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-4.

Four-time Key Biscayne champion Serena Williams will play No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the other semi-final.

A tennis tantrum by Russian Mikhail Youzhny left him bloodied but made him a YouTube celebrity.

When Youzhny hit a backhand into the net during his third-round match at the Sony Ericsson Open on Monday, he angrily whacked himself in the head three times with his racket strings. The forehand to the forehead sent a thick stream of blood running from above his hairline down his nose nearly to his mouth.

By Wednesday, video of the tantrum had drawn more than a half million hits on YouTube.

“I saw that,” said James Blake, who lost in the quarter-finals Wednesday. “That was pretty funny — not for Mikhail, I’m sure. Mardy Fish does that. He punches the strings and ends up bleeding on his knuckles. I did that as a kid and I kind of stopped doing that. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

The episode occurred with Youzhny trailing 5-4 in the third set of his match against Nicolas Almagro of Spain. The 11th-ranked Youzhny went on to win in a third-set tiebreaker, then lost in the next round.
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