After being hit with numerous player withdrawals and halted
matches earlier this week, Thursday night the Mercedes-Benz Cup
finally received what it had been asking for: an exciting match
between two young U.S players on center court before a large
sellout crowd. In front of nearly 5,000 people, unseeded Robby
Ginepri defeated fan favorite James Blake 6-3,7-6 in what may well
have been the tournament’s most competitive match thus far.
“It was a real battle out there,” Ginepri said.
“When you are playing someone as athletic as James, it seems
like you have to win six points just to win one.” Blake and
Ginepri, longtime friends, fought through two extra-point games in
the second set before Ginepri started off the tiebreaker 4-0 and
finished the match by winning 7-2. For Ginepri, Thursday’s
match was a continuation of what has been a thrilling two-week
period for the 22-year-old Georgian native. Last week, Ginepri
upset top-seeded Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the RCA
Championships in Indianapolis and finished off the week by
defeating fourth-seeded American Taylor Dent to win the tournament.
Thursday night, Ginepri moved past the second round for the first
time in five career appearances at the Mercedes-Benz Cup, and he
now moves on to face Gilles Muller, who defeated former UCLA player
Zack Fleishman earlier in the tournament.It has been a long time
coming for Ginepri, who was once ranked No. 35 in the world and was
a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, but had recently fallen to No.
95. “The last few weeks have been about a lot of hard
work,” Ginepri said. “Even when I got to that high
position in the world rankings a few years ago, I knew my best
tennis was still ahead of me, and I think I have proved
that.” Ginepri faced stiff competition throughout the match,
needing to capitalize on his high level of play and often recapture
the momentum.Blake had twice come back from 15-40 deficits to lead
the second set at 5-4, and 6-5, but Ginepri refused to back down,
holding serve throughout the match and coming back to win the
tie-breaker 7-2. “I was really proud of my serve out there
tonight,” Ginepri said. “I have been really working on
that facet of my game, and you can see that it paid off
tonight.” For Blake, Thursday’s match was another case
of what could have been. Since suffering a fractured vertebrae in
May 2004, Blake has only gone 13-15, and has yet to regain the form
that made him the No. 23 player in the world in 2003. “It was
there for me again to take,” the distraught Blake said after
the match. “If a few points could have gone here or there,
who knows what could have happened. But I can’t sit here and
complain about it.” Blake will now continue to play doubles
with Xavier Malisse of Belgium at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, following
the featured match between Ginepri and Muller.
AGGASI: Top-seeded Andre Agassi continued his
domination of the rest of the field Thursday, defeating former UCLA
player Kelvin Kim 6-2, 7-5 in straight sets. Agassi, who finished
with eight aces and never faced a break point, now moves on to face
Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand in the quarterfinals, with the
match taking place Friday at 2:00 pm. Agassi’s appearance in
the tournament is his first live action since aggravating a back
injury in the French Open two months ago.