Blake, Roddick struggle through
Blake, Roddick struggle through 
From correspondents in New York, USA
Former Australian Captain August 31, 2007
BIG guns Andy Roddick and James Blake struggled to stay on course as they snuck into the third round of the US Open.
On a hot and humid day that saw several players struggling with their fitness, No.5 seed Roddick dropped the first set against Argentina’s Jose Acasuso but won the next two as the South American struggled with a leg injury.
He failed to
appear for the fourth set and Roddick moved on to a third-round clash against former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, who outlasted France’s Arnaud Clement in a gruelling 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (9-11) 7-7 (7-1) tie.
“Even after the first set I wasn’t panicking. I just wanted to see if he could keep it up for an entire five-set match,'’ Roddick said.
“You never like winning matches like that, especially as I think I was starting to play well, but at the end of the day your goal is to go through.'’
Also going through in the same quarter of the draw as world No.1 Roger Federer - who is already through - were two other Americans, Blake and Donald Young.
But the way they did so against French opponents could not have been more different.
Fifth-seeded Blake had to deal with the unorthodox wizardry of wily veteran Fabrice Santoro but triumphed in the end 6-4 3-6 6-2 4-6 6-4 to set up a third-round tie with Stefan Koubek of Austria.
It was the first time the New Yorker had won a five-set match in his career.
“I’ve had so many close ones here, but things have just not gone my way and finally they did,'’ Blake said.
“He makes everyone he plays angry. It’s really tough to put balls away against him and you never know what is coming. You have to be ready for everything. There were one or two points that could have changed everything.'’
By contrast, 18-year-old Young did not even have to hit a ball as Richard Gasquet withdrew before the start with an illness.
The former world junior No.1 will play Spanish serve-and-volleyer Feliciano Lopez with the winner playing Federer, should he defeat giant American newcomer John Isner.
The winner of the Roddick-Johansson tie will take on the winner of the match between Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and Thomas Berdych, who made it through in contrasting styles.
Verdasco despatched Frenchman Gilles Simon in straight sets 6-0 6-4 6-3, while Lopez staggered past Russia’s Igor Andreev in a 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) marathon.
In the second quarter of the draw, Britain’s Andy Murray blew hot and cold before reaching the third round with a strength-sapping 5-7 6-3 6-1 4-6 6-1 win over Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman.
The 20-year-old Scot is on the comeback trail after a summer wrecked by a bad wrist injury and he served up a typically erratic performance against Bjorkman, the oldest man in draw at 35.
He next takes on 31-year-old Korean Hyung-Taik Lee, who upset 14th seed Guillermo Canas 7-5 7-5 6-3.
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, beset by questions about illegal gambling patterns in tennis, put his troubles aside to breeze past Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 6-2 6-2 6-2 and next plays Nicolas Almagro of Spain.
There were wins also for Tommy Haas of Germany and Sebastien Grosjean of France and they will play each other for a slot in the final 16.
Agence France-Presse