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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: James Blake tightened up his
game in dramatic fashion Friday, hammering off Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun
6-2, 6-0 in 45 minutes for a semifinal spot at the Indianapolis
Tennis Championships.
After struggling a day earlier to
put away 293rd-ranked Korean qualifier Jun Woong Sun, the 2006
champion and world No. 8 Blake was desperate to lift his level.
The top seed did so in impressive
style in the shortest match of the tournament to line up a clash
with defending champion Dmitry Tursunov.
The Russian completed the first
move of all top four seeds into the semis of this event with a 3-6,
6-3, 6-1 defeat of Chilean Paul Capdeville.
“I felt great, this was my best
match of the tournament,” said Blake, winner of 10 of his last 11
Indianapolis matches. “It’s exciting to get back on hardcourt.
“This is the part of the season
where I play my best. I was playing too much to the score yesterday
and not the opponent.
“Today I didn’t want to look
up when I led 6-2, 3-0, I just wanted to concentrate on playing
well, I wanted to play my best.”
Blake notched seven aces, never
faced a break point and broke his Asian opponent five times as he
improve to 34-15 on the season.
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