| Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round in straight sets downing wild card James Blake of America at US Open on Saturday.
The third seed cruised past 108th-ranked Blake 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3, setting up match against another American player Mardy Fish for a berth in the quarters.
Fish ousted his countryman Arnaud Clement in five sets, putting 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 on scoreline in an early match.
Djokovic, who lost the 2007 US Open final and US Open semifinals the past two years to Roger Federer, displayed athleticism and unyielding baseline brilliance, dismantling Blake's massive homecourt advantage out of play, as the 23,000-plus Ashe crowd had few moments to cheer.
Blake is now 13-15 for the year, having dealt with a nagging knee injury through most of it. He was no match for Djokovic's steeliness, committing 31 unforced errors to Djokovic's 13.
"It felt like Hurricane Earl came to center court tonight," said Djokovic as he advanced on a windswept night by Flushing Bay.
"When I come to the Open, there is definitely something different, some memories for me, some good feelings," Blake said of the home fans' support. "Once you start getting a couple of wins, you really start believing anything's possible."
The Serb deserved a lot of the credit for the victory. He blew Blake away in the first set behind two early breaks and withstood Blake's momentum to win the second-set tiebreaker before closing out the victory in the third.
"If he would have won the second set," said Djokovic, "maybe it would have been a different match."
In women's singles, Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion, moved into the Round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.
The 11th-seeded Kuznetsova, who avenged two losses to Kirilenko from earlier this year, will play Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova next. |
