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| September 29, 2006 | Friday | Ramazan 5, 1427 |
Blake cruises into last eight
BANGKOK, Sept 28: Third seed James Blake took just 54 minutes to demolish Monaco's Benjamin Balleret 6-3 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open.
Blake secured his second straight victory in less than an hour at this tournament to setup a showdown with Finland's Jarkko Nieminen who had a tougher task against Canada's Frank Dancevic before prevailing 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
Blake said he was on track at this tournament, despite arriving from Moscow where the Americans lost a Davis Cup semi-final to Russia.
Unseeded Marat Safin had a hard slog against Frenchman Julien Benneteau, battling for more than two hours before winning 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 to advance to the next round.
The Russian, winner of the 2000 US Open and Australian Open last year, said he was frustrated early, with the first two sets becoming tie breakers, before he turned the match in the third for victory.
Tim Henman won his second all-British battle in a row as he shrugged off a pair of poor line calls to defeat Alex Bogdanovic 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Against Bogdanovic, Henman was momentarily put off his stride as two line calls at a tense moment late in the second set went against him.
American number seven Robby Ginepri dimmed local hopes, defeating Thailand's Danai Udomchoke 6-3, 6-3.
Eighth seed Paradorn Srichaphan overcame Russian Mikhail Ledovskikh 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to line up against Henman.
Results:
Second round: 1-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) beat Benjamin Becker (Germany) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; 8-Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) beat Mikhail Ledovskikh (Russia) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; 3-James Blake (US) beat Benjamin Balleret (Monaco) 6-3, 6-2; Mischa Zverev (Germany) beat Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 7-6 (9-7), 7-5; Marat Safin (Russia) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2; 7-Robby Ginepri (US) beat Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) 6-3, 6-3; Tim Henman (Britain) beat Alex Bogdanovic (Britain) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1; 5-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat Frank Dancevic (Canada) 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.—Reuters
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