Match report

Chris Guccione © Tennistalk.com
Olympic Games
1st round
8/10/08 1 2 Tot
au  Chris Guccione 3 6 3 0
us  James Blake 6 7 7 2
James Blake © Tennistalk.com

  • Blake overcomes potential Guccione threat

    8/10/08 11:52 PM | David Cox
    8th seed James Blake will have been relieved to have got through the first hurdle against the huge serving Chris Guccione 6-3, 7-6.

    Blake actually outserved the Aussie with 11 aces in humid conditions before the heavens opened and terrential downpours forced most of the matches to be postponed

    Amazingly Blake is making his Olympic debut having not been ranked high enough for Sydney and injured for Athens.

    Blake was always going to need to take the few chances he got and he conjured up some magical shot-making to earn the crucial first set break, whipping a forehand winner cross-court and then arrowing a backhand return winner

    The second set featured few chances for either player but Blake started strongly in the tiebreak to go 3-0 up and the early advantage proved enough, he wrapped up a 90 minute win with an ace.

    The general temperature was a lot cooler today but according to Blake it's the intense humidity (which regularly reaches 95%) which is the issue for most players. “It's about as humid as I've ever played in, and I live in Florida,” he said. “It's going to be a grind. By the end of the week, whoever is left standing is going to have to be someone that's in great shape physically.”

    A lot of players have said that given the choice they prefer the dry heat of Australia or Indian Wells

    17th seed Tomas Berdych wasted little time against China's Xinyuan Yu, winning 6-1, 6-2 in 55 minutes

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