The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Blake prevails over Roddick, wins third title of the year

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Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006

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Sport - Tennis

Blake prevails over Roddick, wins third title of the year

INDIANAPOLIS: James Blake was happy to win the RCA Championships and seemed to be just as pleased to see Andy Roddick back on track.

Roddick said he played one of his best finals, but Blake won the all-American match-up 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) on Sunday.

Blake replaced Roddick this month as the highest-ranked American, and lived up to his new status. But he said Roddick is starting to look like the guy who once was No. 1 in the world.

``I feel like I've kind of earned the No. 6 ranking, but I know Andy will be better than that. It's nice to see the old Andy. I look for him to be number one or two in this U.S. Open series,'' said Blake, who claimed his sixth career ATP title and third of the year.

``It's the best I've ever played,'' he said. ``That's what I had to do against Andy.''

Roddick has 20 ATP career wins, but none this year. The subject of much criticism since a third round exit at Wimbledon, he said he's starting to regain his confidence.

``For six months, I've been hearing I don't know how to play tennis,'' Roddick said. ``You don't get to number one, number two, number three without knowing how to play tennis.

``I've been playing badly for a while... my confidence has been restored.''

Stunning turnaround

The win capped a stunning turnaround for Blake. He was ranked No. 210 last April. In May 2004, Blake suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck when he slammed head first into a net post during a practice session. Later that summer, he learned he had shingles, a condition which affected his vision and caused temporary paralysis on one side of his face. In July 2004, his father Thomas died of cancer.

Nothing stopped Blake on Sunday, not even Roddick's serve that often exceeded 225 kph (140 mph).

``He's just playing great tennis right now,'' Roddick said. ``It couldn't happen to a better person.''

Roddick finished with 17 aces, but was constantly frustrated by Blake's speed. In the tie-breaker, Blake chased down one of many balls that appeared unreachable to go up 6-4. Roddick served an ace to make it 6-5, but Blake closed it out on the next point.

``We want to prove that Americans are back on our surface,'' Blake said. ``I feel like I'm on a new level on hard courts.''

Roddick didn't come away from the tournament empty-handed. He and Bobby Reynolds beat Paul Goldstein and Jim Thomas 6-4, 6-4 to win the doubles championship.

Zvonareva takes title

In Cincinnati, unseeded Vera Zvonareva completed her sweep of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, beating fourth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday to win her second tournament of the year.

Zvonareva, who opened the week ranked 52nd on the WTA Tour, made it look easy by winning every set during the Tier III event.

``It just looked like that from the side,'' said the 21-year-old Zvonareva. ``I think I lost a couple of pounds. Every match was tough.''

Zvonareva took 56 minutes — her average per match — to beat Srebotnik, the only player to win as many as four games in one set against her.

``I got the most games from her, so I'm happy with that,'' Srebotnik said.

Zvonareva's ranking reached No. 9 in August 2004 before she lost to Lindsay Davenport in the final of the 2004 event and struggled last year with injuries to her left ankle and right shoulder. She won a Tier III event in Birmingham in June.

``It's just great to win two tournaments almost in a row,'' she said. ``It's a good feeling. You have to be playing really well to win two tournaments.''

Camerin-Dulko win

Meanwhile, Sania Mirza and her Polish partner Marta Domachowska failed to raise their game at crucial junctures as they went down 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 to the top seed Italian-Argentine pair of Maria Elena Camerin and Gisela Dulko in the women's doubles final.

The Indo-Polish pair, seeded third in the event, only had its inconsistency and poor serve to blame for the loss.

Sania and Domachowska were leading 2-0 in the first set but committed three double faults after that to allow their opponents to make a comeback. The top seeds took full advantage of the mistakes committed by Sania and Domachowska to clinch the opener in 42 minutes.

The third seeds then made a remarkable recovery in the second set after losing the opening game and won four consecutive games to equalise in just over half an hour. The hard-hitting Indo-Polish duo caught their rivals off guard with 27 winners — apart from breaking them four times — to take the match into the third set.

The decider was a test of nerves but Sania and Domachowska failed miserably on this count as they committed five double faults and lost five consecutive games to lose to the top seeds, who, it seemed, saved their best for the last to claim their maiden title together.

However, despite being inconsistent, Sania and Domachowska were praised by their opponents for their aggressive play.

``We were a little surprised at how hard they were hitting the ball. None of the teams we played before in this tournament hit it that hard. We were also surprised at how solid they were from the baseline and the net too. It was really tough,'' Camerin said at the post-match press conference.

Medina Garrigues on a roll

Defending champion Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain won the Palermo International for a record fourth time on Sunday, beating Tathiana Garbin of Italy 6-4, 6-4.

It was Medina Garrigues' third straight crown on the clay of Palermo, where she also won in 2001, her second tournament victory this year and sixth WTA Tour title.

Garbin — a wildcard bidding to become the first Italian to win the tournament in its 16-year history — raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set before the second-seeded Spaniard began to impose her game with some fierce groundstroke play.

Medina Garrigues broke Garbin in the fifth and ninth games, held her serve to take the first set and won the match with a characteristic crosscourt forehand winner. — Agencies

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