Match report

James Blake © Tennistalk.com
ATP Masters Series Hamburg
2nd round
5/14/08 1 2 3 Tot
us  James Blake 6 3 3 1
rs  Janko Tipsarevic 4 6 6 2
Janko Tipsarevic © Tennistalk.com

  • Tipsarevic Fires Past Blake in Hamburg

    5/14/08 5:56 PM | Ricky Dimon
    Janko Tipsarevic storms back from a set down to take out James Blake in the second round of the Masters Series Hamburg on Wednesday. Next up for Tipsarevic will be an all-unseeded clash with Albert Montanes.

    The second-round Masters Series Hamburg showdown between James Blake and Janko Tipsarevic was billed as a shot-maker's paradise and it did not disappoint on Wednesday afternoon. Tipsarevic raised his level of play to spectacular heights over the final two sets to storm past Blake 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in just under two hours.

    Rarely does Tipsarevic make life easy on himself, and he certainly did not do that against Blake by dropping the opening set. Almost nothing separated the two players, who both came out aggressively, throughout the first nine games of the match. Tipsarevic did not put enough first serves in, however, and that finally caught up with him as he served to stay in the set at 4-5. Blake capitalized on the only break-point opportunity either player had in the opening frame of play to take it 6-4.

    The second set progressed in similar fashion, with both Blake and Tipsarevic blasting away at short balls and also looking to come into the net to finish off points. The difference, however, was that Tipsarevic took advantage of his opportunities whereas Blake failed to take his chances to seize a decisive lead in the match. Unlike in set one, the American squandered countless looks at Tipsarevic's second serve and could not win either of the two break points he had in the second frame of play. The missed opportunities contributed to a minor letdown in Blake's game and once Tipsarevic got up a break, Blake could not recover. The Serb added an additional break of serve at 5-3 to level the match at one set apiece.

    From then on it was full steam ahead for Tipsarevic. His serve picked up in both percentage and effectiveness, and he won every single one of his 15 first-serve points in the deciding set. Tipsarevic also put the pressure on his opponent by firing winners off both wings from well inside the baseline and that forced Blake to go for huge shots of his own at inopportune times. A quick break of serve to go up 2-0 was all Tipsarevic needed, and he cruised the rest of the way to a 6-3 victory.

    Tipsarevic moves on to the third round, where he will face Spaniard Albert Montanes. It will be their first-ever head-to-head meeting.

  • Thumbs up

    Blake also had a positive winners-to-errors ratio (37 to 34), but his mental game slipped just a bit in the third after a tough second set.

  • Thumbs down

    Tipsarevic blasted 40 winners and kept his unforced error count to almost half of that total (22).

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