American James Blake looked rusty before he rallied to beat unheralded Israeli Dudi Sela 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Tuesday in a first-round match at the Indianapolis Championships.
Top-seeded Blake, ranked eighth in the world, hadn't played a singles match since losing to Germany's Rainer Schuettler in the second round at Wimbledon last month. The 78th-ranked Sela led 2-0 in the opening set and had a 30-love lead in the next game before Blake improved.
James Blake reacts during his first-round match against Dudi Sela at the Indianapolis Championships on Tuesday. Blake won the match 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Blake took a 5-3 lead and had advantage twice with a chance to close the set, but couldn't finish. Sela won the game, then took the next two to take a 6-5 lead. Blake tied it 6-all, then took the tiebreaker 7-2 to win the set.
"There were still some testy moments out there, especially playing a tiebreaker after you serve for a set," Blake said. "That can demoralize a lot of players sometimes."
Blake said his experience allowed him to keep his early struggles in perspective. He has won here two years ago, and has been in at least the quarterfinals in eight tournaments this season.
Blake struggled with his serve during the first set, but was more accurate in the second. He will next play against Jun Woong-sun of South Korea, who beat Australian Chris Guccione 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Rajeev Ram of the United States rallied from 3-6 down in the tiebreaker to upset sixth-seeded Fabrice Santoro of France 7-6 (6), 6-4, while fourth-seeded American Sam Querrey defeated Go Soeda of Japan 6-4, 6-4 in the late match and will play compatriot Vincent Spadea next. Spadea beat another American Donald Young 6-2, 6-4.
Americans Bobby Reynolds, Wayne Odesnik and John Isner, Colombia's Alejandro Falla and Germany's Tommy Haas also won their opening matches.
In Umag, Croatia, Ivan Ljubicic won his first match in over a month and advanced to the second round of the Croatia Open with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin on Tuesday. The fifth-seeded Ljubicic needed only 52 minutes to dispose of the 21-year-old Russian, never facing a break point and losing only five points on his serve.
Ljubicic had lost three of his last four matches - including a first-round exit at Wimbledon to help his ranking drop from No. 3 in the world two years ago to No. 30 - and is looking claim his first title of the season.
After Umag, Ljubicic plans to skip both events in Cincinnati and Toronto to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.
Guillermo Canas of Argentina joined Ljubicic in the second round, defeating Nicolas Massu of Chile 7-5, 6-2.
Eighth-seeded Brazilian Marcos Daniel also advanced, beating Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that had 13 breaks of serve.
In Stanford, California, Switzerland's Patty Schnyder cruised past Amber Liu of the US 6-1, 6-1 in her opening-round match at the Bank of the West Classic on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Schnyder overpowered the less-experienced Liu, who was playing in only her third tour event of the season, to advance to a meeting with Russia's Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.
Coming off a disappointing first-round loss at Wimbledon, Schnyder took advantage of several unforced errors by Liu, while playing an almost flawless match.
She allowed only two points and won six straight games to capture the second set after falling behind 0-1.
Canadian Alexsandra Wozniak upset eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko 7-5, 7-6 (1); Australia's Samantha Stosur defeated Anastasia Rodionova of Russia, 6-3, 6-1; and England's Anne Keothavong beat India's Sania Mirza 7-6 (4), 6-1.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily July 17, 2008)