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INDIANAPOLIS, July 27: James Blake reached his third quarter-final in his past four events on Thursday with an efficient 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ricardo Mello at the Indianapolis tennis championships.
Blake, seeded second behind American compatriot Andy Roddick, is defending the title he won here last year with a victory over Davis Cup team-mate Roddick in the final.
Blake lost the title match last Sunday at Los Angeles to Czech Radek Stepanek, and is poised for a rise in form in the run-up to the US Open starting on Aug 27.
Blake moved into a showdown with American youngster Sam Querrey, who toppled towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) as two of the tallest men in tennis met in the second round.
Querrey, the world number 90, reached his third quarter-final of the season after Memphis and Las Vegas back-to-back in February and March.
The Californian teenager saved match points at this level for the first time in his career as he won the ace-fest in two hours, 20 minutes. The victory was a repeat of a first-round win against the Croatian five months ago in Memphis.
Karlovic at 2.08 metres and Querrey, at 1.98, powered down tree-top serves with the American producing 14 aces and his opponent three more.
Two victories this week in the opening stages of the pre-US Open hardcourt season have wiped away bitter memories for Querrey of seven defeats in a row he suffered over recent months.Third seed Dmitry Tursunov threw away a hopeless second set to prepare for a definitive third, beating fellow Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in a first-time meeting 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.
Tursunov reached the quarter-finals for the first time since two rounds of eight appearances on grass in June. He next plays Kei Nishikori after the Japanese qualifier ousted German Michael Berrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Results (second round):
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x3) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2; Sam Querrey (US) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO x5) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6); Kei Nishikori (JPN) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; James Blake (US x2) bt Ricardo Mello (BRA) 6-4, 6-2.
UMAG (Croatia): David Ferrer of Spain struggled and fumed and managed to move into the quarter-finals by ousting Jose Acasuso of Argentina 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the ATP Croatia Open on Thursday. In the quarter-finals, he will face countryman and four-time Umag champion Carlos Moya who beat Ferrer in the final in 2002. Moya smoothly defeated compatriot and qualifier Pere Riba 6-0, 6-3 in just 50 minutes.
Moya, seeded sixth, won Umag in 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
In their encounters in Umag, Moya leads Ferrer 3-0. Moya has 40 victories against eight defeats in Umag; this is his 13th appearance here, and 11th quarter-finals.
Ferrer, the highest remaining seed at No. 4, was losing 6-2, 2-0 when he smashed his racket in anger. He calmed down, though, and saved break points at 4-4 and 5-5 in the second set before taking control from the tiebreaker.
Seventh-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri continued his excellent streak in Umag where he has never lost before the semi-finals by reaching the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Mischa Zverev of Germany.
Volandri played the finals in 2003 and 2004. He will next meet Romania’s Andrei Pavel, who defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands, 7-5, 6-4. Pavel, 33, the oldest player here, ousted third-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic in the first round.
Results (second round):
David Ferrer (ESP x4) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG) 7-5, 6-4; Carlos Moya (ESP x6) bt Pere Riba (ESP) 6-0, 6-3; Filippo Volandri (ITA x7) bt Mischa Zverev (GER) 7-6 (7/2), 7-5; Andrei Pavel (ROM) bt Robin Haase (NED) 7-5, 6-4.
STANFORD (California): Sania Mirza and Olga Govortsova posted upsets here on Thursday to book their quarter-final berths in the 600,000-dollar WTA Bank of the West Classic.
Govortsova, of Belarus, ousted fifth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to set up a meeting with third-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.
Sania sent sixth-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France packing. Sania, who reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati last week, defeated Golovin 6-4, 6-1. She next faces fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Russian qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova.
Top seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia moved smoothly into the quarter-finals, defeating Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-4, 6-1.
Chakvetadze was playing her opening match after receiving a first-round bye.
The 20-year-old Chakvetadze claimed her fifth career title on Sunday with an easy triumph over Akiko Morigami of Japan in the final at Cincinnati. Chakvetadze next faces seventh seeded Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik, who beat Russian Maria Kirilenko on Wednesday.
Results (second round):
Olga Govortsova (BLR) bt Shahar Peer (ISR x5) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Sania Mirza (IND) bt Tatiana Golovin (FRA x6) 6-4 6-1; Patty Schnyder (SUI x4) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (RUS) 7-5, 6-2; Anna Chakvetadze (RUS x1) bt Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) 6-4, 6-1. –Agencies
