James Blake suffered a surprising three-set defeat against qualifier Ryan Sweating to go out of the Legg Mason Classic in the first round.
Qualifier sends Blake packing in first round in Washington
James Blake suffered a surprising three-set defeat against qualifier Ryan Sweating to go out of the Legg Mason Classic in the first round.
Blake could not find his serving game in Washington and with under half of his first serves in, Sweating took advantage to earn a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
Former winner Blake has tumbled down the rankings all the way to 105, from a previous position at world number four, due to injuries and lack of form.
The 30-year-old did make the quarter-finals in Los Angeles last week, but claimed he was still rusty after an earlier two-month absence through injury.
"It was pretty evident tonight I was not doing the things you need to do to win matches," said Blake.
Tentative
"I played tentative on a lot of the break points. I need to step up and go after those shots. I need to dictate the points rather than letting guys like Ryan control the play.
"What I need is to play more matches and get that confidence back."
World number 119 Sweeting moved into the second round after 92 minutes on court with Blake, and said that the win was the best of his career to date.
"I tried to keep the ball away from his forehand as much as possible," said the American, who will play France's Michael Llodra in the second round.
"When he's moving side-to-side he's dangerous so I was just trying to dictate the points towards his backhand."
Sweeting saved four break points in the final set, and said his decision to go for a big serve with the pressure on won him the match.
"That game in particular he seemed to be really jumping into my kick serve," said the 23-year-old. "I was facing two breaking points. I just said, 'Go for it.'
"(That big serve) was right on the line. So I got lucky there."
David Nalbandian returned to action to win his first match in nearly four months as he beat Rajeev Ram 6-4 6-0 in the first round.
Like Blake, the Argentinian has also slipped out of the top 100 after his injury problems, and is currently 117 in the world having not played since Monte Carlo in April.
The 2002 Wimbledon finalist took advantage of a wild card for Washington though by beating Ram to book a second round test against fifth seed Stanislas Wawrinka.
