Black Tennis Pros

James Blake advanced to the semifinals by beating Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday night in a matchup of Americans. He'll face fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who beat David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4 in the last match of the day.

Blake and Querrey played a close-as-could-be match last month in Indianapolis. Querrey served a career-high 34 aces — including 10 in a row — while winning in three sets, all of them decided by tiebreakers. The 19-year-old Querrey had trouble with his serve and found himself occasionally fighting his nerves in his first televised match from center court.

"I had a blast out there, even though I lost," said Querrey, who is ranked No. 65. "That was one of the most fun matches I've ever played. First of all, TV — that's pretty cool."

Blake was more aggressive in the final set, coming to the net to gain the upper hand. He crouched and pumped his fists after breaking Querrey's serve to go up 4-3, then served it out and finished it off with an overhead slam at the net.

It's the second time the 27-year-old Blake has reached a Masters semifinal — he lost the title match at Indian Wells to Federer last year. Blake had to pull out of Montreal last week because of strained abdominal muscles, and didn't know whether he could play. The injury hasn't bothered him.

"Maybe it's a sign that I need to rest a little more sometimes," Blake said. "Maybe it's the lack of expectations coming in. This time, I didn't know what to expect. I wanted to make sure I was healthy."

Source -- International Herald Tribune