Sports > Dent Advances to Third Round at Open

Taylor Dent's Big Serve Carries Him Into Third Round of U.S. Open; Hewitt, Sharapova Advance

Taylor Dent, of the Unites States, reacts after defeating Nicolas Almagro, of Spain, at the US Open tennis tournament in New York, Friday Sept. 2, 2005. Dent defeating Almagro 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

The 25th-seeded Dent now faces 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Jose Acasuso 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-2. No. 1 Maria Sharapova needed only five minutes to go up 3-0 on Germany's Julia Schruff, romping to a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand upset sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 and Italy's Davide Sanguinetti beat former French Open champ and No. 31-seeded Carlos Moya 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in early matches Friday. No. 17th-seeded David Ferrer and Nicole Vaidisova, seeded 26th in the women's draw, advanced in straight sets.

Fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters played later Friday afternoon, as did two-time Open champion Serena Williams. Venus Williams and top-ranked Roger Federer were the stars on center court Friday night.

Dent's meeting with Almagro seemed as if it would be a laugher. Dent is the only American left in the top half of the men's draw after Andy Roddick's upset earlier in the week, while the 19-year-old Almagro is playing in his first Open.

Dent set the tone early with a 148 mph ace on the first serve of the game, and followed with three more to win the first game. The Spaniard seemed paralyzed by Dent's big serves, barely raising a racket to them. When Dent wasn't serving up aces, he was beating Almagro with beautiful volleys.

By the time the first two sets ended, Dent had 13 aces and 25 winners, and was winning more than 80 percent of his first-serve points. Almagro was flustered and frustrated, throwing his racket to the ground after Dent broke him in the second set.

But Almagro has some grit to him. Instead of giving in, he started going after Dent. The broad-shouldered Californian isn't the speediest of players, and Almagro had him running all over the court in the third set.

Almagro made some nice shots, too. On one point, he had his back to the net and flicked a reverse scoop lob. On another, he lost his footing and was falling to the ground as the ball came at him. He thrust up his racket to shield himself, and the ball trickled over the net. It should have been an easy point for Dent, but he appeared to lose the ball and spun around to look for it. When he finally found it, he hit it wide.

But Almagro ran out of steam in the fourth set, and Dent went back to his serve-and-volley strength to win the match.

Dent finished with 17 aces. His 50 winners were two fewer than Almagro, but he had a 34-43 edge on unforced errors.

Another American, James Blake, was a hit in his first prime-time appearance at the Open on Thursday night, beating Igor Andreev 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a third-round match with No. 2 Rafael Nadal.

And his traveling band of buddies? Well, they certainly were loud.

"I kind of knew what to expect with what I've been going through the last week and a half, with my friends and family coming out," Blake said, smiling. "I don't think Igor quite did. It hit him pretty quickly there. They were pretty vocal. That's just a lot of fun."

Blake grew up in nearby Fairfield, Conn., and remains tight with his childhood friends, many having played junior tennis with him. But with his home base now in Tampa, Fla., and his endless travel, he doesn't get to see them much.

So they come to him.

The "James Block" is almost two dozen strong and goes to several tournaments each year. The one last week in New Haven is a regular stop, because that's close to home. The one in Palm Springs is, too, because a few of the guys have moved to California. And, of course, the Open.

It's easy to tell who the friends are, just listen. Anytime the ball isn't in play, they're yelling something. Sometimes it's a basic cheer like, "Let's go, Jimmy!" or "Come on, James!" Other times they get more creative, like Thursday night's chant of "Can't Beat James! Can't Beat James!"

"I hear them, but I probably don't hear them as much as they'd like me to. They ask me afterward, `Did you hear when we said this?' 'Did you hear when we said that?' 'We did this chant,'" Blake said. "Most of the time I just hear the fact that they're cheering for me. It's a good feeling, and I know that I've got them behind me."

One of the friends recently made light blue T-shirts for the group with "Fire it up one time" on the front and "Bam!" on the back a saying that dates back to their junior tennis days and they wore them for the first time in New Haven.

Lo and behold, Blake won his second career title.

"As long as he keeps winning," friend Matt Davis said, "we're wearing the shirts."

They might want to make some new ones, because Blake could be playing awhile.

Though Nadal is enjoying a breakout season he's already won nine titles, including the French Open Blake is one of the few players who can keep up with the energetic 19-year-old.

Blake is deceptively quick, allowing him to get to shots that no one besides Nadal could reach. During one volley with Andreev, he scrambled from one end of the baseline to the other, lunging and stretching for off-balance shots. He even made one on the run, with his back to the net.

"Nothing would please me more than watching James for two weeks," said Matt Daly, another part of the Block. "I'd be doing backflips if James is playing for two weeks."

2005-09-03