Tennis: Davydenko to meet Blake in semifinal

Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia beat Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-3 on Friday at the Estoril Open. The 2003 champion will now play fourth seed James Blake in the semi-finals, after Blake defeated Florent Serra of France.

NikolayDavydenkoofRussiaeyestheball
duringhisEstorilTennisOpenmatchagainst
MardyFishoftheU.S.,inLisbonMay8,
2009.REUTERS/HugoCorreia

Davydenko took the favorites' role against the sixth-seeded Fish, who was making his Estoril debut.

It was only Davydenko's fifth tournament of the year after a two-month lay-off due to a heel injury. But he started strongly, taking the opener 6-4. The Russian broke Fish's serve again in the second set. A sharp backhand winner down the line gave the Russian a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

James Blake looked to earn the right to face Davydenko in the semi-finals. The American fourth seed, playing against Florent Serra, was soon 3-1 down in the first set. But he quickly fought back, winning eight consecutive games to take the set 6-4.

Blake falls to qualifier at Rome Masters

ROME, April 27 (Xinhua) -- James Blake became the first seeded casualty in Rome Masters when the American 14th seed lost 7-5, 6-3 to Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi in the first round on Monday.

Blake fought back to 5-5 after losing the first five games of the match but he failed to force a tiebreak by dropping serve in the final game of the first set.

Blake briefly perked up again but then appeared to lose heart after relinquishing a 2-0 lead in the second set and 26-year-old Crivoi sealed the match with a sweet drop volley at the net.

Last year's runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded 10th, overcame a few concentration lapses to move into the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Igor Kunitsyn.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who has a bye to the second round along with the other top seeds, will start his title defence against Albert Montanes. The Spaniard beat Italian wildcard Potito Starace 7-6, 6-4.

World number two Roger Federer, yet to win a title this year, will begin his campaign against Croat Ivo Karlovic.

British fourth seed Andy Murray will face Juan Monaco after the Argentine qualifier swept aside German Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-3.

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