Off to a great start! James Blake broke his slump and beat Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to give the United States a 1-0 lead over Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. Blake, who had lost six of his past nine matches, dominated on the fast, indoor hard court, exposing Robredo's backhand.
Blake was broken for the first time when serving for the match at 5-2. But after Robredo held, Blake clinched the victory with a volley at the net into the open court, pumping his fist and delighting the sellout crowd.
Andy Roddick will test his sore left hamstring against Fernando Verdasco in today's second match of the best-of-five format.
The crowd of 14,453, the largest to watch the Davis Cup in the U.S. in more than 15 years, yelled "Let's go James" well before the first match started in hopes of ending the Americans' Davis Cup drought. The U.S. has a record 31 titles, but none since 1995.