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  • Indianapolis Semifinal: James Blake vs. Dmitry Tursunov

    7/19/08 3:29 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - Something's got to give when the tournament's No. 1 seed meets the defending champion. It's James Blake vs. Dmitry Tursunov for a spot in the Indianapolis final.

    James Blake and Dmitry Tursunov are clashing on Saturday afternoon for the right to play in the title match of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships. It will be the first meaningful head-to-head encounter between these two, hard-hitting players. Their only previous meeting came in last year's Davis Cup final after the United States had already clinched the tie, and Blake defeated the Russian 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

    A lot more is at stake this time around. Tursunov has a title to defend, having won this event last year. His road to defense started out easily enough, with a 6-3, 7-5 win over fellow Russian and doubles partner Igor Kunitsyn followed by a walkover against Wayne Odesdink, who was plagued by a back injury. Tursunov dropped the first set of his quarterfinal match with Paul Capdeville, but stormed back to prevail 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. It's been a welcomed return to the hard courts for Tursunov, whose best results this season (title in Sydney, fourth round of the Masters Series Miami) came during the first hard-court swing.

    The case is exactly the same for Blake. The American has struggled recently, losing in the second round of both Wimbledon and the French Open, but he is back in the States and thrived there earlier this season. Blake was runner-up in Delray Beach and he reached the quarterfinals in San Jose, at the Masters Series Indian Wells, and at the Masters Series Miami. The No. 8 player in the world and Indianapolis' top seed is in blistering form this week and he has not dropped a set in victories of Dudi Sela, Woong-Sun Jun, and Yen-Hsun Lu.

    Devastating forehands--two of the biggest in the game--will be on display in this showdown, and it all might come down to which man can better exploit his opponent's backhand. If Blake is connecting on his one-hander down the line, Tursunov will be in trouble. Tursunov needs to get off to a good start because he is prone to losing it mentally and the pro-Blake crowd will get squarely behind their man he gives them a reason to do so. Look for Blake to pull through in three sets.

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