Two-time champion James Blake rediscovered the best of his past form with a 6-4, 6-4 upset of second seed Juan Martin del Potro on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Stockholm Open.
The result gave the 69th-ranked American, the champion in 2005 and 2006, his first quarter-final since making the last eight in the Swedish capital a year ago.
Because of several seasons of injuries, the 31-year-old Blake has spent several weeks this season playing Challenger events, winning two of the lower-level titles and the American said he’s not felt this good in years.
Photo: AFP
“This is my best win of last three years,” Blake said. “This is the best I’ve felt on court for a long time. To get a win like this against a top player is great.”
“I’ve not done this for four or five years. I’ll be proud of this for a long time. The way I played today [Wednesday] was what it felt like when I won here. Back then things came a little easier and the body recovered quicker. But I’ll take it easy tomorrow [Thursday], I think my game and my experience has helped me,” he added.
Del Potro was competing this week for the first time in a month as he builds for the Davis Cup final against Spain in December.
“He played better than me — it’s over for this week,” Del Potro said. “I have a few days now to be ready for next event. I must work very hard.”
Blake won the first set in 49 minutes with a stinging reflex return at Del Potro’s feet on set point and secured victory with a break in the final game of the second set with a volley winner into the open court.
The American improved to 17-2 in Stockholm and could face Argentine David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals if the South American beats Croatian Ivan Dodig.
South African fifth seed Kevin Anderson moved into the next round with a 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-4 comeback win over German Tommy Haas.
Anderson broke once in each of the last two sets and fired 21 aces and 55 winners to move into a match against either top seed Gael Monfils or Australian Bernard Tomic.
“I’m really, really happy to get through. My serve was the biggest positive,” Anderson said. “I served much better than my first match. It was tough to break Tommy, but I managed one in each set.”
Tomic tamed Estonian qualifier Jurgen Zopp 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-0 to set up a date with Monfils, who had a first-round bye and is making his Stockholm debut.
Monfils, still theoretically in the chase for a spot in next month’s eight-man World Tour Finals in London, will be testing a knee injury which forced him to miss last week’s Shanghai Masters, where Tomic earned a top 10 win over American Mardy Fish.
Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic continued his successful Stockholm debut by reaching the quarters with a 6-3, 6-3 over German Philipp Petzschner.
Bulgarian prospect Grigor Dimitrov, coached by Australian Peter McNamara, advanced as he put out American Ryan Sweeting 6-3, 6-1 with six aces and four breaks of serve.
KREMLIN CUP
AFP, MOSCOW
Top-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva cruised into the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, but Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out, dealing a major blow to the in-form Pole’s hopes of reaching the WTA Championships.
Zvonareva, the world No. 5, enjoyed a 6-1, 6-1 win over Serb teenager Bojana Jovanovski in 64 minutes.
“I took into consideration all of the mistakes I made in my previous meeting with Jovanovski at this year’s Australian Open,” Zvonareva said.
“Bojana is young, quick and a very dangerous opponent. It was very important to give her no chance to find her rhythm,” she added.
The 27-year-old Zvonareva broke her rival’s serve three times in the opening set to take it in 32 minutes.
In the second, Zvonareva underlined her domination on the hard courts of the Moscow Olympic indoor stadium, producing two more breaks to advance into the last eight, sealing her victory with an ace.
Second seed Radwanska crashed out as Czech Lucie Safarova recorded a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over the 22-year-old.
Radwanska would have become the eighth qualifier for the WTA Championships in Istanbul later this month if she had won. However, Marion Bartoli — who is seeded No.4 here — will take that spot if the Frenchwoman goes on to win the title in Moscow.
In a clash for a place in the semi-finals, Safarova will meet Russia’s Vera Dushevina, who beat compatriot Nadia Petrova 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
Italian fourth seed Francesca Schia-vone, the 2009 champion, lost 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (9/7) to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
In the ATP tournament, defending champion and second seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia experienced few troubles in his opening-round match against Spain’s Pere Riba, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Russia’s fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, a three-time champion, ousted compatriot Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-5, 6-2 and will next face Germany’s Michael Berrer, who upset Italy’s eighth seed Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
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