Spadea, Fish, Blake All Advance at ATP Delray Beach

Posted on September 15, 2004

<a href='http://www.tennis-x.com/playernews/Mardy-Fish.php' id=namelink>Mardy Fish</a> lines up a hottie at the Playboy Mansion.Top-seeded Vince Spadea was forced to play from behind Tuesday night against unheralded Alejandro Falla, coming back from a first-set loss to beat the Colombian 6-1 in the third at the ATP stop in Delray Beach.

"It was a frustrating match for the first half," Spadea said. "I was struggling out there. He was picking his shots and moving me around, and I just wasn't playing any defense at all."

Sum up the win for us Vincenzo.

"It was all about spirit and resolve," Spadea said.

Three seeds were knocked out Tuesday night in (6) Cyril Saulnier (l. to Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen in three), (7) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (l. to American (Q) Hugo Armando 7-6 in the third), and (8) Radek Stepanek (l. to France's Sebastien De Chaunac 6-1 in the third).

Second-seeded Mardy Fish was a winner on the day (d. (Q) Pedrosa), as was compatriot James Blake (d (WC) Bohane in three), who is still struggling to get his level back after a neck injury.

"I was going out there to have a good time and see how I did," Blake said. "I wouldn't say I'm 100 percent, but this is definitely a good indication for me that I can win a tour-level match."

Other un-seeds into the second round were Americans Jeff "The Lizard King" Morrison (d. countryman (WC) Widom), qualifier Mathias Boeker (d. countryman Kendick), and qualifier Amer Delic (d. Garcia in three), Germany's Bjorn Phau (d. (WC) Odesnik 6-0 in the third), and Brazil's Ricardo Mello "Yellow" (d. Elseneer).

Delray Beach has so far escaped heavy rains from Hurricane Ivan which has moved to the west into the Gulf of Mexico, but rain is forecast for the area (and most of Florida) today.

On Wednesday's Delray Bee-otch tip are (Q) Delic vs. (3) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, De Chaunac vs. Golmard in an all-"Frauuunch Dressing," Mello vs. (2) Fish, Chiudinelli vs. Salzenstein, and Carlsen vs. Phau.

"Mario is a great friend of mine," Delic said. "We've known each other since I was eight years old. We've played a lot of juniors against each other."