WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina: Andy Roddick defeated James Blake 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (8/6) Monday in an all-American second-round clash at the ATP Winston-Salem Open.
Roddick, the fifth seed, dropped serve early, but pulled level with Blake at 5-5 and went on to claim the opening set in a tiebreaker.
Trailing 4-5 in the second, he saved two set points en route to a victory in one hour and 39 minutes.
Roddick, winner of the hardcourt title in Atlanta last month, recorded his 20th match win of the season.
“It was tough tonight,” Roddick said. “I was lucky to squeeze it out. I’m just happy to be through. Each match, you want to play better. That’s what this week is all about.
In another second-round contest, 21-year-old Belgian David Goffin defeated 10th-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Seventh-seeded American Sam Querrey had won the first set 6-3 from Colombian Santiago Giraldo when rain halted their second-round match for the night. They were to resume on Tuesday.
Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci booked a second-round clash with top-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, benefiting from a premature exit by 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis.
Bellucci was leading their first-round match 7-5, 3-1 when the Cypriot retired with a back injury. Poland’s Lukasz Kubot advanced to a second-round clash with another Frenchman, eighth-seeded Julien Benneteau, with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Tommy Robredo.
Michael McClune, a US qualifier ranked 303rd in the world, notched his first ATP tour match win with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over 52nd-ranked Alejandro Falla of Colombia in just 63 minutes.
Robin Haase of the Netherlands, who won the claycourt title in Kitzbuhel last month, also advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
Wozniacki opens title defense with win
In New Haven, Connecticut, Caroline Wozniacki launched her bid for a fifth straight New Haven WTA title Monday with a 6-3, 6-3 first-round victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
Wozniacki, seeded third in a field headed by Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska, needed an hour and 21 minutes to book a second-round clash with Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Melanie Oudin of the United States.
A fifth successive title in the hardcourt tune-up for the US Open would put former world No. 1 Wozniacki in elite company. Only Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have won the same WTA Tour title five or more times in a row.
Fourth-seeded French Open runner-up Sara Errani also advanced, rallying from 2-5 down in the second set to seal a 6-4, 7-5 victory over unseeded American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia also advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues while seventh-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko cruised past Shahar Peer of Israel, 6-2, 6-2.
Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, who has battled injuries all year, made a winning return to WTA action with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Hungarian Timea Babos.
Qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus defeated Vera Dushevina 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2 to set up a clash with Poland’s Radwanska, who enjoyed a first-round bye as did second-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.
Kvitova will open her campaign against Nicole Gibbs, a US qualifier playing in just her third WTA main draw. Gibbs defeated fellow qualifier Alexa Glatch in three sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Kerber withdraws, Jankovic advances
in Texas
In Dallas, Texas, top-seeded Angelique Kerber pulled out of the WTA’s Texas Open on Monday with a sore shoulder but said she hoped it would be better in time for the start of the US Open next week.
She said her shoulder had started bothering her in Montreal two weeks ago, and was worse after her run to the title match in Cincinnati, where she fell to China’s Li Na.
Despite the absence of Kerber, Dallas fans saw a three-set thriller on Monday night as former world number one Jelena Jankovic, seeded second, pulled off a 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 victory over Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
Marina Erakovic of New Zealand emerged from a tense battle with Britain’s Anne Keothavong with a 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9) victory.
In other matches, third-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy breezed past Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-2, 6-2, and sixth-seeded Peng Shuai of China defeated Ayumi Morita of Japan 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
