Blake strikes back
James Blake wasn’t about to lose twice in one year to 18-year old NBTA student Kei Nishikori. After Nishikori beat Blake in the finals at Delray Beach, Blake got some revenge last night as he knocked out the young Japanese star 6-4, 6-4 in the first round at Houston. After getting broken and dropping the first set, Nishikori managed to break Blake two different times in the second set but each time Blake was able to break back.
“It definitely feels good anytime to avenge a loss,” said Blake. “Usually the slower court hinders me, but this time I think it helped because his balls are helped by a quicker court. It makes him more effective and he doesn’t seem to have a problem with pace. It makes the serve much more effective. It gave me the opportunity to look at his serve a lot better here on slow court.”
While it’s a tough loss for Kei, you had to know that Blake was going to have a little something extra for him. Kei played well, and that is an encouraging sign. It’s never easy to beat a top ten player, especially at a young age.
If you thought Blake’s opponents couldn’t get any younger, he will 15-year old Ryan Harrison in the second round. Harrison made a splash by qualifying for the tournament, and then winning his first round match over top 100 player Pablo Cuevas. If Blake wins, he will advance to the quarterfinals of his sixth straight tournament. If Harrison wins, the tennis world is going to go nuts.
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