Blake tossed out but Nalbandian through
Source: Agencies |
August 4, 2010, Wednesday
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JAMES Blake made his sixth first-match exit in a dozen tournaments when he lost to 119th-ranked qualifier Ryan Sweeting on Monday, while David Nalbandian made a successful return to the circuit at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.
"I definitely get angry at myself, frustrated at myself. ... I'm a competitor. I'm going to want to win everything I play, whether it's tennis, golf, cards, checkers, chess. Anything," Blake said.
"I want to win. So if I'm not winning, I'm getting frustrated."
There have been plenty of chances to feel that way this season for the former top-five player, including Monday night, when the 2002 Legg Mason champion lost to Sweeting 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
"I've got to get back to the way I know I can play," said Blake, a former top-five player who has slumped to No. 105 in the rankings.
Nalbandian, another player who used to be at the top of the sport and now is outside the top 100, beat Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-0 to win his first tour match since being sidelined with a left hamstring injury three months ago.
Nalbandian was ranked as high as No. 3 and reached the final at Wimbledon in 2002. But he hasn't played in a tournament since losing in the quarterfinals on clay at Monte Carlo in April, and he's currently No. 117.
He was given a wildcard to play in Washington.
Next up for Nalbandian is fifth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, while Sweeting will play No. 14 Michael Llodra of France. Qualifier Grega Zemlja eliminated Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second-round match against No. 2 Andy Roddick.
In other action, Igor Kunitsyn beat Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-3, Karol Beck defeated Michael Berrer 6-3, 6-4, Viktor Troicki beat Kevin Kim 6-1, 6-2, and Illya Marchenko defeated 2003 Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler.
Blake's first ATP title came at this Washington hardcourt tournament in 2002, but he's not been having that sort of success recently: he has won 10 and lost 12 matches in 2010.
He had openings against Sweeting, but was unable to convert any of his four break points in the final set.
"I played tentative," Blake said. "When you don't have a lot of matches, you're not going after the shots. ... I need to play more matches, and I need to find a way to get that confidence back."
Blake was in this one, serving at 1-1, 30-all in the third set, when things fell apart.
He pushed a running forehand long, then hit a forehand that clipped the net cord before falling on Blake's side.
That began the six-point run that ended with Sweeting ahead 3-1.
Sweeting faced at least one break point in each of his service games the rest of the way. On one, at 15-40 in the eighth game, Sweeting hit a service winner.
"I just said, 'Go for it,'" Sweeting said, "and luckily, it went in."
The 30-year-old Blake said he wasn't hampered by a right knee injury that began bothering him more than a year ago.
"The knee feels great. That's not a problem at all - not now, at least," he said.
Blake is a three-time grand slam quarterfinalist once ranked as high as No. 4.
Sweeting's only match victory at a major tournament came when his opponent quit during the first set at the 2006 US Open, and his career-best ranking is No. 116, achieved in May.
All of which is why the 23-year-old Sweeting, who was born in the Bahamas and is a US citizen, described Monday's result as "one of the best wins of my career."
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