Australian Open - Blake reaches last eight

Eurosport - Mon, 21 Jan 05:56:00 2008

James Blake reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final outside the United States with a solid 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic in the Australian Open fourth round.

Blake - 0

The 12th seed had too much power and finesse for his 19-year-old opponent, seizing three of his five break opportunities, and he sealed victory on his first match point with a strong serve that Cilic returned into the net.

American Blake, 28, had made the fourth round on three previous occasions at Melbourne Park and has never got past the third round at the French Open or Wimbledon. He reached the U.S. Open quarter-finals in 2005 and 2006.

Blake, who helped his country win the Davis Cup last year, won his first match after recovering from a two-set deficit in the third round when he beat Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

Reuters