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Safin Upsets Top-seeded Blake at ATP Washington
Posted on August 4, 2006
Marat Safin posted his biggest win in over five months as the former World No.1 Russian upset top seed James Blake 7-6(6), 7-6(5) at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C.
The Russian, who had failed to win back-to-back matches in 10 of his 12 appearance in the season, defeated a top 5 player for the first time since the Masters Series Indian Wells in March when the ousted countryman Nikolay Davydenko in the third round.
Since winning the Australian Open in 2005, when he defeated then World No.1 Roger Federer in the semifinals and World No.3 Lleyton Hewitt in the final, Safin posted only four Top 10 wins: Guillermo Canas in Halle 2005; Davydenko in Dubai and Indian Wells in 2006; and Gaston Gaudio in Valencia 2006. With today's triumph he improved to 35-27 against Top 10 players since 2000.
Blake, who won the Indianapolis title two weeks ago, is currently the leader of the US Open Series tied with last week's Los Angeles champion Tommy Haas.
On Thursday Safin fired 10 aces and broke Blake in three of nine opportunities to seal the win after one hour and 53 minutes.
For a place in his second semifinal of the season he will battle South African Wesley Moodie, who defeated Kenneth Carlsen 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(6) in two hours and 54 minutes.
Moodie, who is in the quarterfinals of an ATP-level event for the first time in 2006, blasted 17 aces and won only six more points than Carlsen (125 to 119).
Lleyton Hewitt charged into the quarterfinals by breezing past Denis Gremelmayr 6-1, 6-4 in 61 minutes.
Hewitt, the 2004 Washington champion (d.Muller), has now won 14 of his last 16 matches. The Australian is bidding for his 26th career title. With his championship performance at London-Queen's Club in June (d. Blake), Hewitt kept alive the streak of winning at least one title each season since he turned pro in 1998.
The former World No.1 will next take on Arnaud Clement for a spot in the semifinals.
Clement, who is now 14-14 this season, rolled past No.5 seed Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 14 minutes. The 28-year-old Frenchman, the winner in Marseille (d. Ancic), is seeking his fourth career title.
Hewitt holds an impressive 7-1 record against Clement with his only loss being a walk over in 's-Hertogenbosch in 2002. The Australian has won all five meetings on hard courts with the last one taking place in last year's Australian Open first round.
American Mardy Fish also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over qualifier Andrea Stoppini. The American, victorious at Houston this year (d. Melzer), has won 12 of his last 15 matches.
The 24-year-old, currently No.70 in the INDESIT ATP Ranking, has climbed 245 positions since the beginning of the season. For a spot in the semis he will battle Scot Andy Murray, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Feliciano Lopez.
Murray, who improved to 2-0 under Brad Gilbert's guidance, won 88 percent of the points in his first serve and broke the Spaniard in three of 10 opportunities while never being broken.
Tim Henman had no trouble in dismissing American lucky loser Jan-Michael Gambill 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 13 minutes to also book a spot in the quarterfinals against Dmitry Tursunov, a 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-3 winner over Hyung-Taik Lee.
--ATP
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