American to face Isner after second-round win
James Blake strode up to the baseline and made sure there would be no repeat champion at this year’s Legg Mason Classic.
Crisp with an aggressive backhand return and fearless targeting lines and corners, Blake was all over No. 8 seed David Nalbandian in a 6-2, 6-4 second-round win, the first major upset of the week at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.
“I’ve been playing well the last few weeks and have just come up against guys that are playing great,” said Blake, who has been intent on bouncing back from a first-round loss at Wimbledon that he called embarrassing.
His reward for ousting Nalbandian will be a rematch with John Isner, who beat him in three sets in Atlanta two weeks ago and also happens to be his doubles partner — they’ll play together Wednesday and meet Thursday. Isner opened his week in Washington with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Tobias Kamke.
“We’re practically neighbors,” Blake said. “The last time I was home I was eating breakfast at his house just about every morning, and he’s taken so much food out of my fridge, I think he owes me a few thousand dollars.”
In a day full of American victors, Ryan Sweeting and Ryan Harrison both advanced, with Sweeting beating fellow American Ale Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 6-4.
Harrison mentally checked out of the middle set of his first-round match against Mischa Zverev but kept his equipment intact in the first and third for a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory.
The 19-year-old is coming off consecutive ATP semifinal appearances in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He lost both to Mardy Fish, in the latter also losing his temper and destroying a racket.
On Tuesday, Harrison smashed a ball in frustration on the stadium court before reeling off four straight points to break Zverev at 5-4 and claim the opening set.
He thought twice about smashing his racket in the second and lost a love game with a half-hearted forehand straight into the net.
“He was able to break me, and it just got away from me really quickly,” said Harrison.
