Article

  • Rogers Cup Quarterfinal: James Blake vs. Nicolas Kiefer

    7/25/08 6:52 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - It will be a battle of two veterans when James Blake and Nicolas Kiefer square off on Friday in Toronto. At stake is a semifinal appearance at the Rogers Cup.

    Nicolas Kiefer has never defeated James Blake, but a win on Friday would avenge all three previous setbacks because the stakes have never been higher. The winner will book his place in the semifinals of Toronto's Rogers Cup. Blake, in fact, has never dropped a single set to Kiefer. The American won 6-4, 7-6(4) six years ago in Vienna, led 3-2 in the first set when Kiefer retired in Los Angeles three summers ago, and most recently prevailed 6-4, 6-4 at last season's Masters Series Cincinnati.

    Kiefer is a heavy underdog again, but he definitely has a chance at the upset because he is playing some of his best tennis even at 31 years old. After starting out slowly in 2008, Kiefer began righting the ship in May. He reached the quarterfinals in Hamburg, the semifinals in Halle, and the third round of Wimbledon. The No. 37 player in the world has been impressive so far this week. On Monday he scored a nice 7-5, 7-6(4) win over Mardy Fish and he followed that up with a mirror image 7-6(4), 7-5 decision over Mikhail Youzhny. Then in the third round he stunned 4th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 after coming back from a set and a break down.

    Blake struggled this summer but he could be heating up just in time to thwart a Kiefer upset bid. The No. 8 player in the world lost in the second round of both Wimbledon and the French Open, but he is back on the hard stuff and thrived on that surface earlier this season. Blake finished runner-up in Delray Beach and reached the quarterfinals in San Jose, at the Masters Series Indian Wells, and at the Masters Series Miami. So far this week he has ousted Jonas Björkman 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 and dispatched Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

    Kiefer, who fired 11 aces against Youzhny and 10 past Davydenko, needs to have another outstanding day on serve. The veteran cannot afford to trade groundstrokes all day from the baseline because he does not possess a weapon like the Blake forehand. It doesn't seem like Blake is capable of winning a match easily right now, but he should be able to take this in three tough sets.

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