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 Ninth-seeded American James Blake avenged last year’s Los Angeles final defeat to No. 27 seed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic at the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday. The Tampa resident recorded a 6-3, 6-4 victory in 83 minutes for a place in the quarterfinals at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami.
Blake won 20 of 28 points on serve, eight of nine net approaches and converted one break point to sweep through the opening set in 34 minutes.
Stepanek fought valiantly in a second set but saw his serve broken a further three times by Blake, who hit a total of 23 winners and 20 unforced errors.
World No. 9 Blake, who finished runner-up at Delray Beach (l. to Nishikori) earlier this month, matches his 2006 performance in Miami (l. to Federer).
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The 28-year-old will next face World No. 2 and 2005 runner-up Rafael Nadal, who improved his perfect record against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu to 8-0 as he won their fourth round match 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 30 minutes.
Blake holds a 3-1 career lead over Nadal, but the Spaniard won their last meeting in the Pacific Life Open quarterfinals two weeks ago.
The 21-year-old Nadal will be appearing in his fifth quarterfinal this season, and has a 3-1 record at this stage. He opened the year with a runner-up finish in Chennai, reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and Indian Wells, and lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in the Dubai quarterfinals.
Russian Igor Andreev advanced to his first ATP Masters Series quarterfinal since March 2006, when the World No. 32 defeated Argentine Guillermo Canas - the No. 15 seed - who upset Roger Federer en route to the 2007 Miami final (l. to Djokovic).
Despite committing 49 unforced errors, Andreev was able to record his first career win over Canas with a 6-4, 7-6(6) victory in two hours and three minutes. Canas had won their previous clash at ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo in April 2005.
The 25-year-old Andreev, who has also reached the last eight at Buenos Aires (l. to Acasuso) and Dubai (l. to Djokovic) in February, now awaits tenth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych for the first time in ATP-level play. Andreev won all four of their meetings five years ago on the Futures and Challenger circuits.
Berdych took just 64 minutes to dismiss Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday. The 22-year-old is making his fourth straight appearance in Miami and had previously failed to advance past the third round. He returns to an ATP quarterfinal for the first time since his season opener in Sydney (l. to Guccione).
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Monday: Roddick, Youzhny Advance to Last 16
Monday: Federer Joins Davydenko in Fourth Round
Sunday: Nadal Returns to 4th Rd.; Canas, Mathieu, Andreev Advance
Sunday: Blake Outlasts Santoro; Berdych Advances Easily
Saturday: Federer, Roddick Win Openers; Murray, Hewitt Fall
Saturday: Tsonga Wins in Miami Debut; Seed Exodus Continues
Friday: Qualifier Anderson Upsets Defending Champ Djokovic
Friday: Nadal Advances to Third Round
Thursday: Monfils Rallies to Defeat Isner
Thursday: Reynolds Upsets Safin; Russian Struggles Continue
Wednesday: Querrey Advances Along With Teenagers Cilic, del Potro
Wednesday: Fans Favorite Kuerten Falls in Opener
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