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.'
USA
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