Fri Apr 11 20:10:35 2008

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Incredible rally by Blake gives U.S. 2-0 lead versus France

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Winston-Salem, NC (Sports Network) - James Blake saved two match points in the fifth set and rallied to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu, giving the United States a commanding 2-0 lead over France in their best-of-five Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Blake's victory came four hours after former top-ranked star Andy Roddick won in straight sets against surging Frenchman Michael Llodra, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) in 2 hours, 5 minutes in another high-quality opening singles rubber on a fast hardcourt.

It was the third five-set win in 11 played for Blake, who earned a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 triumph in a match that lasted 3 hours, 48 minutes. Incredibly, Blake won 13 of the last 16 points of the match.

The win put the defending Davis Cup champions in firm control going into Saturday's doubles encounter with the twin Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, against a French duo of Llodra and Arnaud Clement, while Sunday's reverse singles call for the world No. 6 Roddick to meet Mathieu and the eighth-ranked Blake to lock horns with Llodra. The Bryan brothers are a near-unbeatable 14-1 in doubles and would become the most successful U.S. Davis Cup doubles team with a win here on Saturday. The legendary John McEnroe and Peter Fleming also went 14-1 as a unit.

Mathieu broke serve to grab a 5-4 lead in the fifth set, but Blake came through at the most crucial time, after falling behind 40-15 in the next game. Blake moved the game to deuce when Mathieu returned a ball long, and the Frenchman had another long return. A wide return then gave Blake the game, and the American held serve at love before rallying to win the final game.

Mathieu saved one match point, but Blake then won when his opponent smacked a forehand return into the net, putting the Americans on the verge of advancing to the semifinals.

Prior to Friday's action, the U.S. team received an on-court celebration for its 2007 title, as Roddick, Blake, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan and captain Patrick McEnroe received their championship rings.

The U.S. is fielding the same squad for a team-record 10th straight time, and Roddick moved the Americans ahead Friday afternoon in the first match.

The massive-serving Roddick uncorked 30 aces, while Llodra wasn't far behind with 26 bombs. The American managed only one service break in the victory, but Llodra was unable to manage any on Day 1.

The clean bout saw a mere six unforced errors from Llodra and only 11 from Roddick, who closed out the tilt on his second match point when the Frenchman netted one final return.

Roddick is now the third-winningest singles performer in American Davis Cup history (28-9), breaking a tie with the late, great Arthur Ashe.

"I've said repeatedly over the last year or so that I've become a good Davis Cup player," Roddick said. "At the beginning of my career, I don't think I played my best tennis in Davis Cup. It's a different kind of pressure and it's a different kind of match. I think it's taken a while for me to be comfortable."

The French squad, which is captained by Guy Forget, is playing without 13th- ranked Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who pulled out of the tie here due to a right knee injury. And Richard Gasquet has been left out of the French lineup despite being France's highest-ranked player at No. 10 on the planet.

The Americans and nine-time champion French have split 14 all-time ties, with France taking their last meeting in a World Group semifinal at Roland Garros back in 2002. Nine of the meetings have come in finals.

The U.S. owns a record 32 Davis Cup titles, and won its first title in 12 years last year by beating 2006 titlist Russia in the finale in Portland.

The Americans whipped host Austria 4-1 in their 2008 opening-rounder in February, while France shut out host Romania 5-0.

The winner of this Davis Cup tie will meet either Germany or Spain in the semifinals. The Spaniards hold a 2-0 lead in that best-of-five showdown in Bremen, Germany.