NEW HAVEN (Connecticut), Aug 24: Third-seeded James Blake barely survived the third round, then booked a semi-final berth on Thursday at the WTA US Open warm-up event.
On a busy day that saw three of the top four men’s seeds tumble, Blake hung on by the skin of his teeth.
In his matinee third-round clash with Argentina’s Agustin Calleri, the 2006 runner-up, the American staged a remarkable comeback, saving three match points at 4-5 in the second set before prevailing 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 in two hours before a partisan crowd.
Blake returned to court a few hours later to dismantle Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-2 in 60 minutes in the quarter-finals.
Blake now faces fifth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu, a 6-4, 6-3 quarter-final victor over fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Earlier, Simon had upset top-seeded and defending champion Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-4 in what he described as a perfect performance.
In the other semi-final, Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic is slated to meet unseeded American Mardy Fish. Karlovic fired 28 aces to send Russian Igor Andreev home 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) while Fish overpowered Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3.
In women’s action, Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, the third seed, was humbled by sixth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 39 minutes.
The 25-year-old Dementieva recovered from a 0-4 deficit in the first set.
Dementieva now meets fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the top seed, who advanced without breaking a sweat.
The other semi-final will pit Hungarian teenager Agnes Szavay against Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou. The 18-year-old Szavay, a qualifier, fashioned another match of sheer mastery on Thursday, thrashing eighth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-1, 6-4, one day after shocking second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
The hard-hitting Daniilidou edged fourth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 1-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-2, saving two match points along the way in the second set tie-breaker, the last one on a shot that hit the net cord and fell on the other side.
Results on Thursday (x denotes seeding):
Men’s (quarter-finals): James Blake (US x3) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-4, 6-2; Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA x5) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-4, 6-3; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Igor Andreev (RUS) 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 7-6 (7/1); Mardy Fish (US) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 6-3, 6-3.
Third round: Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x1) 6-4, 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt Tommy Robredo (ESP x2) 6-3, 6-3; James Blake (US x3) bt Agustin Calleri (ARG) 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1; Igor Andreev (RUS) bt David Ferrer (ESP x4) 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Jarkko Nieminen (FIN x6) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Thomas Johansson (SWE) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5; Mardy Fish (US) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG) 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-0; Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA x5) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Women’s (quarter-finals): Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x1) bt Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 6-2, ret (left ankle); Agnes Szavay (HUN) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR x8) 6-1, 6-4; Elena Dementieva (RUS x6) bt Marion Bartoli (FRA x3) 6-4, 6-2; Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) bt Dinara Safina (RUS x4) 1-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-2.—AFP