Qualifier Ryan Sweeting took advantage of some shoddy serving by James Blake to advance to the second round of the Washington Classic with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win on Monday.
Blake, sidelined for two months earlier this year with a knee injury, landed only 48 percent of his first serves on an unseasonably cool evening in Washington.
The 30-year-old former champion said he had trouble shaking off the rust despite reaching the quarter-finals in Los Angeles last week.
“It was pretty evident tonight I was not doing the things you need to do to win matches,” said Blake, whose ranking has slipped from a high of four to 105.
“I played tentative on a lot of the break points. I need to step up and go after those shots. I need to dictate the points rather than letting guys like Ryan control the play. What I need is to play more matches and get that confidence back,” he said.
Sweeting, ranked 119, rated his 92-minute victory the best of his career. The Florida native broke Blake’s serve in the third game of the final set and held for victory.
“I tried to keep the ball away from his forehand as much as possible,” said Sweeting, who was scheduled to play France’s Michael Llodra in the second round of the US Open tune-up yesterday.
“When he’s moving side-to-side he’s dangerous, so I was just trying to dictate the points towards his backhand,” he said.
Sweeting saved all four break points in the final set, one of with an uncharacteristic 201kph serve.
“That game in particular he seemed to be really jumping into my kick serve,” 23-year-old Sweeting said. “I was facing two breaking points. I just said, ‘Go for it.’ [That big serve] was right on the line. So I got lucky there.”
In other first-round matches, 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian of Argentina routed American Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-0, while Russian Igor Kunitsyn swept past fellow qualifier Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-2, 6-3.
Slovenian qualifier Grega Zemlja needed only 56 minutes to eliminate Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 6-3.
■SAN DIEGO OPEN
REUTERS, SAN DIEGO, California
Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina ended a six match losing streak by beating Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 7-6 in the first round of the San Diego Open on Monday.
Safina was joined in the second round by another Russian, Alisa Kleybanova, who overcame Aravane Rezai of France 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to earn herself a match up against top seed Jelena Jankovic.
Safina, who has slumped to No. 35 in the rankings after struggling with a back injury this year, proved too strong for her Ukrainian opponent
The Russian will play either fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Chanelle Scheepers in the next round.
Safina came out on top in a number of cross-court backhand rallies and kept her composure as Bondarenko frequently lost her temper, smacking her racket on the court time and time again.
Bondarenko was able to push the Russian into a second set tiebreaker, but Safina wrestled control quickly, ripping three crisp winners to win it 7-2 when Bondarenko produced a forehand error.
“I needed the win,” “Safina said. “Last week I lost a tiebreaker and in practice I lost one because I was playing defensive. Tonight I said I’m not going to play defensive and be aggressive and whatever happens, happens.”
Twelve months ago Safina held the No. 1 position but her back injury and an alarming loss of confidence has contributed to her fall in the rankings.
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