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| October 19, 2006 | Thursday | Ramazan 25, 1427 |
Unknown Vliegen upsets Blake
MADRID, Oct 18: Belgian Kristof Vliegen won a third-set tie break to upset eighth-seeded American James Blake 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in the second round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday.
Blake has won five titles this year and came into the tie having won back-to-back tournaments in Bangkok and Stockholm.
It was, however, the 24-year-old Vliegen, the straight-sets winner of the only previous encounter between the two earlier this year, who started stronger.
He broke Blake's opening service game and held firm to take the first set with some controlled tennis.
The American was clearly frustrated and struggled to find his range until he broke Vliegen midway through the second to get back into the match.
Blake looked to be in control as he raced to a 3-1 lead in the third but his opponent struck back to go 4-3 up.
Again the match swung Blake's way as he broke back but he then lost his serve again to take the set to a tie break.
Both players made errors until Vliegen served out with an ace to take the tie break 7-5 after just over two hours of play.
Earlier, in-form tenth-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who lost in the final in Vienna last week, overcame Thailand's Paradorn Srichapan 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
Last year's semi-finalist American Robby Ginepri knocked out 12th seed Mario Ancic of Croatia in straight sets 7-6, 7-6 and Germany's Tommy Haas eased past Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-3, 7-6.
Meanwhile, world number one Roger Federer made an authoritative start to his bid to win his 10th title of the year when he saw off the combative Chilean Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-2 in the second round late on Tuesday.
There was a narrow escape for fourth seed David Nalbandian who had to fight his way back from 5-2 down in the third set to beat off a determined challenge from French qualifier Julien Benneteau, winning through 6-7, 6-2, 7-5.
The Argentine now faces an intriguing third round clash against former British number one Tim Henman who upset Spanish 14th seed David Ferrer 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Results:
Second round: 11-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3; Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) beat 8-James Blake (US) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5); 13-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); 10-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4; Robby Ginepri (US) beat 12-Mario Ancic (Croatia) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Tuesday’s late results:
Second round: 4-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 7-5; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Nicolas Massu (Chile) 6-3, 6-2; Tim Henman (Britain) beat 14-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
MAURESMO STRETCHED
ZURICH: World number one Amelie Mauresmo struggled to overcome Australia's Samantha Stosur 7-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Zurich Open.
The Frenchwoman has found wins difficult to come by in Zurich, with only one victory from three previous appearances.
Although Mauresmo began in lively fashion by holding serve to love, Stosur quickly settled and proved to be a stubborn opponent.
Mauresmo's next opponent will be Daniela Hantuchova after the Slovak defeated Japan's Ai Sugiyama 7-6, 6-2.Results:
Second round: Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2; 1-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Samantha Stosur (Australia) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.—Reuters
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