Tennis: Blake advances in Atlanta

ATLANTA: James Blake went through to the second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships with a comeback win against Ernests Gulbis.  Blake had lost his only two previous meetings against the young Latvian and was immediately in trouble when he conceded the opening set. But the 31-year-old rallied, either side of a rain delay, to triumph 5-7, 7-6, 6-2. Fellow American Michael Russell also went through after he brushed aside teenage wildcard Donald Young 6-0, 6-3, while Ryan Sweeting lost a hard-fought three-setter against India’s eighth-seed Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2011.