By Bill Scott Jul 19, 2008, 23:15 GMT
Indianapolis, Indiana - Home ambitions fell flat as top seed James Blake and young hope Sam Querrey bowed out in semi-final disappointments Saturday at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.
The results gives Dmitry Tursunov a chance to defend the first title of his career as he plays French second seed Gilles Simon.
Simon emerged a strongman at the end of a draining win over the collapsing Querrey, who could barely lean on his racket in exhaustion at the end, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Simon, world number 25, marshalled his physical resources on a sweltering, humid day in the Midwest, while the US big man faded badly in the heat.
Blake, never at his best under pressure in recent months, completely lost focus as he returned after a short second-set rain interruption, going down on a wave of poor serving 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Tursunov, the third seed.
'I don't know what happened,' said Blake, a second-round loser at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. 'I didn't have a first serve when I needed it. It's one of those things that can happen.'
Blake was overwhelmed as Tursunov shot back into contention after losing the first set, firing five aces in the second to square it and recovering for the win after the desperate Blake earned a break-back but lost his serve a game later on his way out of the event, where he won in 2006.
Tursunov played his last final in January, when he won Sydney.
'I'm confident that I can play well,' he said. 'If I play well, I have my chances - as long as he doesn't blow me off the court.'
The California-based Russian improved to 23-14 this season.
Querrey, who made a breakthrough a year ago at Indy by reaching the last four, could go no further on an afternoon in which he lost in just over two hours.
'I knew I had good chances to win all the way through,' said Simon, now 25-16 on the season. 'He started to look tired in the middle of the second set.
'This is a match that I'll remember for a long time. It was not played at a great level, but it was a huge fight.'
The slight Simon dominated on serve, with 11 aces to three by a run-down Querrey, who lost on 16 of his 19 breakpoint chances.
'I kept fighting, especially when I could seem him leaning on his racket after points in the third set,' said the French winner. 'I could tell he was tired, and that kept me fighting.'
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