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4/27/09 8:52 PM | Ricky Dimon
Can it get any worse for Americans on clay? James Blake is upset in the first round of the Masters Series Rome on Monday afternoon by world No. 112 Victor Crivoi.
If Americans are hoping for any rare success on clay this season, it probably won't come from a slumping James Blake.
The world No. 16 lost his third straight match dating back to the third round of Miami's Sony Ericsson Open when he was stunned 7-5, 6-3 by qualifier Victor Crivoi on Monday afternoon in the first round of the Masters Series Rome.
Blake, who is now just 9-8 on the season and 0-2 on clay (having also lost in the Houston first round to Guillermo Canas), came out flat and clearly without confidence in the early going against Crivoi. Amidst misty and windy conditions, the 29-year-old American lost the first five games of the match, dropping serve at 0-1 and 0-3. A five-game surge of his own merely turned out to be a minor awakening for Blake, who leveled the set at 5-5 thanks to breaks at 1-5 and 3-5. Crivoi, however, regained the momentum with a service hold at 5-5 and his third break of the afternoon finished off the opening frame of play 7-5.
The 112th-ranked Romanian went on another five-game streak in the second set. After surrending serve immediately and going down 0-2, Crivoi ran off five straight games at the expense of a deteriorating opponent. Blake at least made Crivoi close it out on serve, holding for 3-5, but the underdog had little trouble serving things out.
This is Crivoi's first victory at the ATP level this season. He lost his opener in Johannesburg and also dropped to Davis Cup singles rubbers to Russian in the first round of World Group competition. Nonetheless, his No. 112 ranking is a career-high thanks to runner-up, semifinal, and quarterfinal finishes in three clay-court Challenger events this year. Next up for Crivoi in Rome is either Robin Soderling or Marcel Granollers.
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