Blake's victory gives US a 2-0 Davis Cup lead

GOING STRONG: James Blake returns the ball to Mikhail Youzhny during the Davis Cup final tie.
Other stories in the section:
Bryans lead US to Davis Cup triumph over Russia
Pete Sampras last led the team to victory over Russia on clay in Moscow.
"It's kind of like 'so close but so far away.' There's no celebration," he said. "It's one match. The celebration will be saved for when we win, if we win."
Roddick took the first set after he hit an 146-mph serve that No. 34 Tursunov returned long, ending a game that went to deuce four times. Roddick let out a growl after holding serve, and the US fans roared their approval.
Roddick broke Tursunov early in the second set and again to start the third. While he high-fived McEnroe, Tursunov threw up his hands in disgust.
"If there are 12-and-a-half thousand people behind you and you can use them to help you win a tennis match, you would be stupid not to, right?" Roddick said. "Other than cheating, I'll do anything I can to win."
Roddick had 25 aces in the match, which lasted 1 hour, 53 minutes. Tursunov had eight aces.
"I wasn't playing my game," Tursunov said. "I was playing way too passive. I was playing not to miss."
The best-of-five final is a culmination of a year's worth of international competition.
The once-dominant United States have 31 Davis Cup titles but none in 12 years, the longest span without an American victory. Pete Sampras last led the team to victory over Russia on clay in Moscow in 1995.
Russia's captain Shamil Tarpischev pulled a surprise at the draw, leaving fourth-ranked Davydenko out of the singles matches - setting up the first match between Roddick and Tursunov.
Tarpischev didn't say whether he'd stay with Davydenko and Andreev as his doubles team on Saturday.
"I haven't thought about it except that the ones that I have posted to play, and that is Andreev and Davydenko," the captain said.
Davydenko comes into the Davis Cup final at the center of an investigation into unusual betting patterns during a loss to Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina in August.
| Related links: | |
























Total Comments: 0
Read Comment | Post Comment
Be the first to comment.