Big guns James Blake and Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed contrasting straight sets victories in the opening round of the SAP Open.
Haas and fourth seed Stepanek book places in quarter-finals
Big guns James Blake and Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed contrasting straight sets victories in the opening round of the SAP Open in San Jose.
While second seed del Potro needed two tie-breakers to get past Andrea Stoppini of Italy, Blake battered fellow American Vince Spadea.
The third seed needed just 50 minutes to defeat his compatriot 6-3 6-4, hammering down 13 aces in the process.
Cashing in on his only two break-point opportunities, Blake comfortably recorded his second straight win over Spadea who still leads the overall head-to-head 6-2, including a victory in the same tournmaent back in 2005.
Del Potro was unable to manage a single break, instead relying on his booming serve to come through against qualifier Stoppini.
Fightback
Sixth seed Sam Querrey also advanced, producing a tremendous late fightback to knock out wild card Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-5).
The American had to battle back from 4-0 down in the tie break in the deciding set to see off the Cypriot.
"I've been working a lot off court, putting in a lot of time on the track and in the gym and I think it's paid off," Querrey said afterwards.
"I could've gone another two sets pretty easily. I've been working on my backhand and it felt pretty solid today, and I'm still trying to get to the net when I can."
In second round action, Tommy Haas thundered down 18 aces in his 6-2 7-5 win over Christophe Rochus of Belgium.
Radek Stepanek, seeded fourth, is also through to the quarter-finals after easing to a 6-2 7-6 (7-1) success against Australian Chris Guccione.
