 Blake has now won his last four matches |
James Blake took another step towards regaining top form with victory over qualifier Alex Kuznetsov at the US Clay Court Championships in Houston. Second seed Blake reached his first quarter-final since January with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 win over Kuznetsov.
Blake will next face Juan Monaco after the Argentine beat Amer Delic 6-2 6-3.
Third seed Tommy Haas saw off Nicolas Devilder 6-3 6-4 and next faces Ivo Karlovic, who had a walkover when Diego Hartfield withdrew with a neck injury.
Blake has not been at his best in recent weeks but got back to winning ways on Davis Cup duty last week.
Against 20-year-old fellow American Kuznetsov, he was down a break in the first set before rallying to take the tie-break with a backhand up the line.
Blake then wasted four break points in the second game of the final set, but broke Kuznetsov in the fourth and sixth games to wrap up the win.
"For me, if I'm not moving my feet I feel like I don't get anything on the ball because I'm kind of reaching for it and just arming as opposed to getting behind it and really ripping it," said Blake.
"You kind of scratch out those kinds of sets, and I did, and played pretty well at important times in the tiebreaker and just managed to eek my way out."
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