Blake Wins All-American Matchup Over Harrison to Kick Off Sony Open
In opening round men’s singles action at the 2013 Sony Open in Miami, it was wild card James Blake who defeated his fellow countryman, Ryan Harrison, 6-2, 6-2. Blake won 24 of his 27 first serve points and broke Harrison twice while improving his head-to-head series with Harrison to a perfect 3-0 mark.
“It felt good. It was just one of those days where things were going in,” Blake said. “I felt like I was playing well last week. It’s just a matter of putting it all together and tonight is an example of what can happen when I do that.”
Nikolay Davydenko defeated Paolo Lorenzi 6-0, 2-6, 6-0 in a match interrupted by rain. Davydenko will play 19th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov next. Wild card Lleyton Hewitt reached the second round with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory against Joao Sousa. Hewitt failed to serve out the match twice at 5-4 and 6-5, before closing out the win on his seventh match point. Hewitt is a three-time former semifinalist in Miami and will next meet world number 11 Gilles Simon, a player who has won their previous two meetings.
In other first round action, it was Jurgen Melzer who rallied to beat Ricardas Berankis, edging Melzer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1). Xavier Malisse battled past American qualifier Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4, as Malisse improved to a perfect 3-0 lifetime against Ram.
Lukas Rosol defeated Gilles Muller 7-5, 6-4 to set a second-round meeting with two-time defending champion and current world number one Novak Djokovic, while German Tobias Kamke will face Indian Wells runner-up Juan Martin del Potro after posting a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Blaz Kavcic. Michael Llodra also advanced to round two, winning an all-French clash over Benoit Paire 7-6(7), 6-2.
