By IANS
New York : Third seed James Blake made a successful start to his quest to reclaim his hometown title, defeating Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2 in second round men’s action at the Pilot Pen tennis tournament at New Haven, Connecticut.
On a rainy Tuesday, the 2005 New Haven champion improved his perfect lifetime record against Clement to 7-0 as he broke the Frenchman six times during the hour and 15-minute match, according to the official ATP Tour website.
Blake also improved his record during the summer hard court action in the US to an impressive 13 wins and only three losses. He reached the Los Angeles final three weeks ago and also finished runner-up to world number one Roger Federer last week at the Cincinnati Masters.
The American’s title win at his hometown tournament in 2005 was the start of his rapid rise on the ATP Tour. Following the New Haven success, Blake went on to capture seven more titles over the next two years. He won his ninth career title in his 2007 season opener at Sydney defeating Carlos Moya of Spain in the final.
In the only other match to be completed Tuesday, up-and-coming American John Isner needed to sit out a 24-hour rain delay to make his New Haven debut, but wasted no time in recording the 6-3, 6-4 win over another rising star, Germany’s Benjamin Becker.
The German, who stands a whole foot shorter than the six-foot nine-inch Isner, fired 14 aces to his opponent’s 13, but Isner did not relinquish any break point chances during the 58-minute duel while Becker dropped serve once in each set.
Last month in Washington, Isner defeated Becker in their second round match en route to a runner-up finish in just his second ATP tournament. The 22-year-old Isner posted five straight wins in the third-set tie-break before falling to compatriot Andy Roddick in straight sets.
Isner now has a chance to avenge last week’s loss at Cincinnati to Spaniard David Ferrer, who handed the American a straight-sets loss in his Masters Series debut.
The fourth-seeded Ferrer is making his third straight appearance in New Haven, and reached the semi-finals in 2005.