Blake disappoints again
MELBOURNE, Australia – James Blake had another Grand Slam disappointment, losing in today’s fourth round to Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets at the Australian Open.
The 27-year-old Blake has never gone beyond the quarterfinals in 20 majors, but came into the season’s first Grand Slam tournament confident of improving on that after defending his title at the Sydney International.
Instead, it was Gonzalez advancing to the quarterfinals – 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4) – for the first time in Melbourne. He got himself out of trouble with aces when he had to, and regularly ripped forehand winners to keep Blake on the baseline.
The 26-year-old Chilean had a little trouble closing, wasting two match points on Blake’s serve and then getting broken himself when serving for the match.
But he dominated the tiebreaker, getting two mini breaks before closing with an ace, his 18th.
Tommy Haas ended eighth-seeded David Nalbandian’s endurance run, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win.
On the women’s side, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters set up their second straight Australian Open quarterfinal showdown.
Hingis, the Swiss star who swept the 1997-99 titles and reached the finals the next three years before quitting the tour because of nagging foot and ankle problems, weathered an early challenge from China’s Li Na before winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Clijsters, a 23-year-old Belgian in her final season on the tour, beat No. 15 Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 7-5. Last year in the quarterfinals, Clijsters ended Hingis’ first run at a major after three seasons in retirement, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Clijsters was up 6-1, 3-0 when Hantuchova rallied and got back on serve in the second. Clijsters wasted two match points in the 10th game and had to break serve to finish off the match in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
Hingis was taken aback by heavy pressure from Li’s strong ground strokes in the first set.
Li was dictating play with stinging shots into the corners in the first set. But Hingis decided just to keep the ball in play until Li made a mistake. And as the match wore on, Li’s unforced errors piled up to 69, while Hingis limited hers to eight.
Later today, top-seeded Maria Sharapova was set to play Vera Zvonareva. The winner will play Russia’s Ana Chakvetadze, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over No. 8 Patty Schnyder.
On the other side of the draw, Serena Williams emerged as a big threat for the women’s title after defending champion Amelie Mauresmo and No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova were toppled in the fourth round Sunday.
“Yeah, I have it in me,” Williams said. “I believe in my game, and more than anything I believe in me. It doesn’t matter what people say or people write.”
She had to save match points against No. 5 Nadia Petrova to make the fourth round – her first win over a top 10 player since she won the Australian title in 2005 – then beat No. 11 Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-2.
Williams will face Shahar Peer, who beat 2004 U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2. Peer is in the quarterfinals at a major for the first time.
Second-seeded Mauresmo, who also won Wimbledon and spent most of 2006 at No. 1, fell 6-4, 6-3 to 70th-ranked Lucie Safarova.
Safarova will play fellow Czech player Nicole Vaidisova, who at No. 10 is the highest-ranked player remaining in the bottom half of the draw.
On the men’s side, defending champion Roger Federer stayed on track for a 10th Grand Slam with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over 14th-seeded Novak Djokovic.
Andy Roddick beat Mario Ancic 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal against friend and former housemate Mardy Fish.