Date:24/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/24/stories/2006082413282100.htm

Sport - Tennis

James Blake ousted; Davenport moves up

NEW HAVEN: James Blake had the crowd behind him all night. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo had all the shots he needed for the upset.

The unseeded Spaniard ousted the Pilot Pen's favourite son and defending champion 2-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) on Tuesday night. Blake, who grew up in nearby Fairfield, squandered five match points, including two in the first tiebreaker.

``It just slipped away and he was playing pretty good tennis,'' Blake said. ``It's kind of inexcusable to have three or four match points on my serve and not convert.

`Good performance, overall'

Lindsay Davenport, the women's defending champion, beat Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-3 to move into the second round. The seventh-seeded Davenport managed just two points in the first two games before gaining momentum.

In the men's draw, American Mardy Fish's run ended in a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5), second-round loss to fifth-seeded David Ferrer.

The results: At New Haven (Pilot Pen International) Men: Second round: Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo bt James Blake 2-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4); Xavier Malisse bt Robin Vik 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Juan Ignacio Chela bt Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2; Jose Acasuso bt Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 3-3 (retired); Jarkko Nieminen bt Greg Rusedski 7-6(2), 6-4; Nicolas Massu bt Boris Pashanski 6-3, 7-6(4); Agustin Calleri bt Max Mirnyi 7-6(4), 6-3; David Ferrer bt Mardy Fish 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5); Fernando Verdasco bt Julien Benneteau 7-6(4), 6-4; Jurgen Melzer bt Feliciano Lopez 6-7(3), 7-6(1), 6-4; Robin Soderling bt Samuel Querrey 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Marcos Baghdatis bt Michael Berrer 7-6(5), 7-6(6); Olivier Rochus bt Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Gael Monfils bt Marc Gicquel 7-6(6), 6-4; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(2), 4-6 6-4; Nikolay Davydenko bt Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-1. Women: Second round: Samantha Stosur bt Tian Tian Sun 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Tatiana Golovin 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. First round: Galina Voskoboeva bt Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 6-5 (retired); Lindsay Davenport bt Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-3; Daniela Hantuchova bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4; Mara Santangelo bt Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

At Forest Hills, New York (WTA Tennis Classic): First round: Meghann Shaughnessy bt Marta Domachowska 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5; Anna Smashnova bt Julia Schruff 6-2, 4-3 retired; Maria Elena Camerin bt Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-3; Severine Bremond bt Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 7-5.