Federer, Hewitt Struggle, Blake Digs Deep at Australian Open
Posted on January 19, 2008
With Andy Roddick out, James Blake kept the U.S. flag flying at the Australian Open on Saturday, coming from two sets down for a gutsy 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-2 win over French veteran Sebastien Grosjean.
"That's got to be my biggest comeback, I would say -- down two sets to love, two sets to one, two breaks against a guy that was getting a lot of free points on his serve -- 4-1 in the breaker, 5-3 in the breaker," said Blake after his first career victory from two sets down. "Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb. Couldn't have been a better feeling than to accomplish what I did and come back and play so well and feel like I was fresh physically, and mentally stayed focused the whole time, even when I was down."
World No. 1 Roger Federer also had to put in some long hours after a sluggish performance against surprising Serb Janko Tipsarevic, eventually surviving 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8.
"What a great battle. Fair play, he's a nice guy -- pity somebody has to win, wish we could have draws sometimes too," Federer said. "This is where you get grey hair early in life. Pity for him, but what a great victory for me."
An upset was realized Saturday when the towering Croat rising star Marin Cilic powered past No. 7 seed and former Aussie Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1.
By the end of the match the Chilean's body gave out, with Gonzalez giving up in a 6-1 final set.
"It was tough to play," Gonzalez said. "I got here like 15 days ago, and after three, four days it started to bother my shoulder because the ball was too heavy, and today I was really tired. In last two days I was with stomach upset, so I couldn't take it anymore. It was really hard to me. I mean, serve, especially hard the way that he was returning. I was really disappointed when you're in the court and he's serving 200 kilometers and then you serve 160. It's a big difference."
Cilic will next face Blake who he lost to in their previous meeting.
"Yeah, I played him in Bangkok," Cilic said of the American. "Of course, I mean, he's good athlete, playing quite good on the hard courts, and I think I should play maybe a little similar as today: Try to serve good and try to move the game to his backhand, because forehand is obviously much better shot."
Also into the fourth round were No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic who tamed American Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-1, 6-3; No. 13 Tomas Berdych who had a tougher time with No. 21 Juan Monaco 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2; and No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt defeating No. 15 Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3.
Scheduled for Sunday in Melbourne are Richard Gasquet vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an all-French affair, Mikhail Youzhny vs. Nikolay Davydenko in an all-Russian meeting, Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Jarkko Nieminen, Rafael Nadal vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu, and rain-delayed matches from Saturday in David Nalbandian vs. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, and David Ferrer vs. Vincent Spadea.
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