Nadal Battles Past Blake
Rafael Nadal defeats James Blake in three sets at the China Open.
Post Comment|1 Liked It
Image by brettmarlow1 via Flickr
Spanish tennis champ Rafael Nadal, playing in his first tournament since recovering from an abdominal strain, progressed this morning to the quarter finals of the China Open. The top seed won in a hard fought fashion against heavy-hitting American James Blake.
During the first set Nadal was forced to save two break points, later serving out the set 7-5. During the second set Blake fought back, saving a match point and twice breaking Nadal’s serve, forcing a tie-break which the American won 7-4. However he came undone in the third set with a double fault that gave Nadal the break he needed. The Spaniard held his serve for the win 7-5 6-7 6-3.
Nadal and Blake had not met since 2007, and prior to this match Blake was one of the few players on the ATP circuit who could claim a winning head to head against the Spaniard.
The 23 year old will now face either veteran Marat Safin or seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter final. Nadal last played the China Open in 2005 and it was to be his 10th title of that, his breakout year. After a season plagued by injury, he’ll no doubt be hoping to finish it off with a repeat of that result.
