TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Roddick ended his losing streak against fellow American James Blake at the ATP Morgan Keegan Championships but third seed Radek Stepanek and fourth seed Tommy Haas crashed out in Memphis on Wednesday.

Roddick, who headed into his first-round clash having lost his last three matches against Blake, had a wobble in the second set but eventually prevailed 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-3).

Belgium’s Xavier Malisse accounted for Haas, booking his place in round two with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over the German.

In other first-round action on Wednesday, Leonardo Mayer of Argentina beat American Mardy Fish 6-4 6-0 while eighth seed Sam Querrey breezed through his all-American clash with Rajeev Ram 6-2 6-3.

In the second round, Latvian youngster Ernests Gulbis stunned Stepanek, knocking out the Czech player 7-6 (7/5) 7-5.

American sixth seed John Isner also advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 6-4 victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen while Germany’s Philipp Petzschner ousted Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5).

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A celebrity packed tennis lineup, featuring Andy Roddick, James Blake, Jim Courier and Vera Zvonareva come together for fifth time in the Tampa Tennis Classic benefiting Raymond James Courier’s Kids, an inner-city youth tennis program founded by Jim Courier that supports First Serve tennis programs.

The Tampa Tennis Classic will feature America’s biggest names in tennis, and will be held at the St. Pete Times Forum, Monday, March 22, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. On the men’s side, with 60 singles career titles between them, these three are sure to wow the crowds in Tampa in a battle of the stars. Representing the women, Zvonareva is currently ranked number nine in the world and holds nine singles titles.

Raymond James Courier’s Kids and the USTA’s First Serve Program are dedicated to providing opportunities and positive life alternatives to at-risk youth. The programs offer a blend of tennis instruction, computer classes, academics and mentoring to promote positive values, healthy habits and education.

The First Serve Program is the USTA’s national initiative to introduce inner city youth to the life-long sport of tennis. The program was launched in Florida and has 4 basic components: tennis instruction, computer classes, academics and mentoring. First Serve offers its programs free to participants. For more information, or to get involved with the program, visit firstserve.org.

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U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro recovered from a set down to advance to the third round of the Australian Open after surviving a marathon battle against American James Blake Wednesday.

The fourth-seeded Del Potro had been in danger of becoming the highest-ranked men’s player to be eliminated before he rallied from a break down in the fifth set to take the match 6-4 6-7 5-7 6-3 10-8 in four hours, 17 minutes.

The 30-year-old American, who twice had treatment on his right knee that had to be strapped during the match, had held a 2-0 advantage in the final set though the tall Argentine managed to fight back to put the match back on serve.

Del Potro had the opportunity to serve for the match in the 12th game only to be denied by Blake before he finally took the advantage again in the 17th and sealed it with a massive serve that Blake was unable to return on the next game.

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Andy Roddick and James Blake will not represent the US in the Davis Cup first round tie against Serbia, ending the duo’s nine years of consistent service to the national squad.

World No.7 Roddick and Blake, who turned 30 just over a week ago, have both made the decision to drop Davis Cup duties from their 2010 schedules, leaving captain Patrick McEnroe – who gave both men their debuts in 2001 – with a new selection headache ahead of the season’s opening tie in March.

“It certainly appears to be the end of era,” admitted McEnroe. “But the door will always remain open to both of those guys in the event they decide they want to play again.”

“Andy has always put it on the line for the USA in Davis Cup – he’s a legitimate icon” – Patrick McEnroe

One of or both Roddick and Blake have featured in each of the past 25 ties for the US, leading the team to the 2007 title with a win in the final over Russia at home and restoring the reputation of the competition’s founding nation to attract the top players following the sporadic appearances from Pete Sampras and other top Americans during the 1990s.

27-year-old Roddick’s 31-11 singles record is second only to John McEnroe, who posted 41 wins from 49 rubbers during his career. Blake’s record, including a handful of doubles appearances, is a combined 21-12.

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Gael Monfils fought back from a set down to topple  American James Blake 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a highly entertaining quarterfinal at Pat Rafter Arena.

The third seed’s victory has set up an intriguing clash with defending champion Radek Stepanek, who easily overcame another unseeded American in Wayne Odesnik, on Saturday.

It took Monfils four match-points to finally sink Blake, after breaking him in the seventh game of the deciding set.

Blake survived the third match point with a fortunate forehand that clipped the net cord and gave the world No.13 no chance.

One of the characters of men’s tennis, Monfils immediately walked to the net and brushed the cord before waving his finger at it and telling it not to hurt him again, leaving the Brisbane crowd in stitches.

Blake’s luck didn’t last much longer as Monfils, who served 13 aces for the match, ended his tournament with the next two points.

Blake had three more break-point chances in the match but Monfils saved seven of his nine.

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Only hours after wrapping up his Charity Gala featuring Elton John in Austin, Andy jumped a plane to NYC to join James Blake for the “Serving for a Cure” Charity Event at Pier 94. All the proceeds will benefit the Thomas Blake Sr. Memorial Cancer Research Fund at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The evening will feature an exhibition, fashion show and concert by Wyclef Jean. James recently touched on how him and Andy became close friends in an interview with ESPN:

“I met Andy at Wimbledon when he was 17 and I was 19, and he was cracking me up from the get-go. He was very personable and likable, always making fun of himself and joking around. We got to know each other better playing challenger events in towns that didn’t have much of a night life. You’d be in little hotels, hitting Outback or the Olive Garden for dinner, playing cards and watching football at night. There were no entourages, no media requests, no time constraints. I met my best friends that way: Andy, Robby Ginepri, Mardy Fish, the Bryan brothers. Andy always tries to help me out whenever he can. We’re going to play an exhibition match.”

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Play did not begin until 11.30, and once it did Murray was tested all the way before eventually triumphing 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6, (6-4).

Murray broke the American in the fourth game to put himself in the driving seat in the opening set only for Blake to claw his way back to return the favour immediately to go to 3-2.

 The pattern continued as Murray took the sixth game on Blake’s serve with a second break to go to 3-3 and it quickly became 4-3 as he held. Murray made it four games on the trot by breaking serve again in game eight and then served out to take the opening set 6-3.

Both players then held serve through the second set, forcing a tiebreaker as the marathon day’s play continued. Blake pushed 6-4 ahead and it was then that Murray slipped and seemed to hurt his leg scrambling for the ball.

He got up to face set point but could not stop Blake levelling the match at 1-1. Murray still looked to be struggling as the third set begun, but he battled through another lengthy fight as both players held serve to force another tiebreaker.

Murray finally made his move, pushing 5-3 ahead, but he could not hold serve to give Blake another chance.

However, Murray got back to 6-4 ahead for his second match point and clinched victory when Blake hit a shot long, ending the contest after two and a quarter gruelling hours. The Scot will meet Czech Radek Stepanek in the third round today.

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