Polansky drops emotional second round match to Blake at the US open

Nestor wins opening round of doubles

In front of a boisterous crowd on Louis Armstrong Stadium, Thornhill-native Peter Polansky had his US Open run end in the second round at the hands of American James Blake 7-6(1), 3-6, 2-6, 4-6 in two hours, 29 minutes Thursday night.

Blake, 30, is attempting to mount another comeback and picked his favourite tournament to play at a level reminiscent of when he was No. 4 on the ATP World Tour back in 2006. Thursday night he looked agile, making good on 21-of-25 attempts at the net. Blake added 52 winners and was six-for-15 on break point opportunities.

“A lot of times he (Blake) was taking the ball so early and hitting it so hard,” said Polansky. “But it was more how he played the ball. I think I played well and he played well too.”

In his first Grand Slam main draw, Polansky entered his second round match with great confidence, starting with an ace on the first ball. Both players held serve, forcing a tiebreak where Polansky only gave up one point when he broke a string on his racquet.

The fans turned their support for the American up a level as Blake broke Polansky in his first service game of the second set. The 22-year-old Canadian had three break-point chances in the frame as well but could not convert.

Blake headed into the third set with real momentum and probably played his best tennis in recent memory. A break in the third game gave Blake all he needed but added one another for good measure.

While the fourth set looked like it was going to be over in a flash, Polansky proved why this was his breakthrough tournament. He lost his first two service games, including a 20-point third game but kept his composure and broke the American back on consecutive occasions. A cross-court backhand winner on his second attempt evened the set. However the veteran Blake bounced right back and captured the final two games to close out the match and yelled “this is my house.”

The Canadian worked through three qualifying rounds and upset No. 30 seed Juan Monaco of Argentina in the first round. For his efforts, Polansky will receive 70 points and $31,000 (USD).

“The hardest part is going to the next tournament when it’s not the US Open,” Polansky concluded.

NESTOR WINS

Playing in his first round match at the US Open, doubles specialist Daniel Nestor won in straight sets alongside partner Nenad Zimonjic 7-6(6), 6-3 over Eric Butorac of the United States and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles. The Canadian-Serbian team will next face Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina and Santiago Ventura of Spain. Nestor captured the US Open in 2004 and was a finalist in 1998.