Blake puts U.S. in control with career-best win

PORTLAND, Oregon  – James Blake celebrated the greatest victory of his career after beating Russian Mikhail Youzhny to put the United States 2-0 up in Friday’s opening singles matches in the Davis Cup final.

The American world number 13 held off a gutsy challenge by his opponent to triumph 6-3 7-6 6-7 7-6, his 13th success in 21 Davis Cup singles encounters.

“This is probably my biggest win,” Blake told a news conference after treating a near-capacity crowd of just under 13,000 to a gripping display of tennis at Memorial Coliseum.

“Before this, I would say it was my first Davis Cup win,” he added, referring to his straight sets victory over India’s Leander Paes in a 2001 World Group qualifier.

“Today, to do it in a final against a player like Youzhny who is playing very good tennis and can play on any surface, it’s definitely my best performance.

“I wanted to prove I was tough enough to hang in a tough situation, in a big match, in a final that I’ve never been in before.”

Blake, who lost to Youzhny in their only previous encounter in last year’s semi-final, held off a spirited fightback by the Russian in a fluctuating contest lasting three-and-a-half hours.

The American failed to serve out for the match when leading 5-4 in the fourth set, but he held his nerve to clinch the tiebreak 7-3 when Youzhny netted a forehand.

“If I would have gone out and played this match soft, a little tentative, playing not to lose, I would have been sitting here a loser that’s for sure,” Blake said.

BEST OPPORTUNITY

“I had to go out and give myself the best opportunity. I’ve been through a lot of Davis Cup matches now and never been in a final before.

“But I think the matches this year prepared me well to know that I’m just going to go out and be aggressive.”

The Americans are poised to win their first Davis Cup title in 12 years with the dominant Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, heavy favourites to clinch Saturday’s doubles.

“I’m going to have a whole lot more fun watching them playing because they make it very difficult on anyone,” Blake said.

“There is a very good reason why they’re the number one doubles team in the world. They’ve proved it time and time again. They’ve proven it in the Davis Cup. They get so amped up.”

The Bryans, winners of five grand slam titles together, have lost just one doubles match in 13 Davis Cup appearances.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Blake is already focusing on Sunday’s reverse singles matches.

“This match today won’t mean anything on Sunday,” he said. “Once we get out there, if I’m playing in a meaningful match, I can’t think just because I played well today I’m going to play well on Sunday.

“I got to go out there and prepare the same way and be ready to perform the same way.”

Champions League final to switch to Saturday

LUCERNE, Switzerland, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The Champions League final will be moved from its traditional Wednesday night slot and instead be held on a Saturday night, UEFA president Michel Platini announced on Friday.

The move was confirmed following a meeting of UEFA’s executive committee in Lucerne and will come into effect from the 2009-10 season.

“I did not see many children or families in Athens because Wednesday is a school night,” Platini told reporters referring to last season’s final in which AC Milan beat Liverpool.

“Moving it to Saturday should make it more of a family occasion.”

The European Cup final has traditionally been played in midweek since the competition began in 1955-56.

The committee also approved Platini’s proposals to guarantee a greater share of places in the main competition to countries from outside the top-ranking nations.

However, the top three nations, at present Spain, Italy and England, will have three automatic places in the group stage rather than two as at present.

MORE DEMOCRATIC

Platini said the changes were unanimously approved by the executive committee and should lead to a more democratic competition.

“There will be more champions in the group stage and there will be more democracy in the competition.

“The Champions League is a great competition and I am delighted with the changes,” he said.

The major change is a split in the qualifying competition to ensure that five champions from 40 lower-ranked nations will reach the Champions League.

A separate qualifying path will be reserved for 15 non-champion teams from the top 15 ranked countries that will also produce five qualifiers.

Those 10 qualifiers will join the 22 already in the competition proper.

MORE CHAMPIONS

The effect of the changes will be to guarantee more champions than at present reach the group stage.

Another major change is that the first knockout round (last 16 teams) will be played over four weeks rather than two as at present, to maximise the television revenue potential.

UEFA are also revamping the UEFA Cup, while the Intertoto Cup will be abolished from the 2009/10 season. Instead, the teams that took part in that competition will play in an expanded UEFA Cup qualifying competition.

The untidy format of the current UEFA Cup competition has been streamlined with a group stage reverting to a regular home-and-away format.

The UEFA Cup final will still be played on Wednesday. As Platini said, “One Saturday is enough.”

Platini’s initial plans to involve domestic cup winners in the competition, were dropped several months ago.

“I believe in that idea but I believe it came too early,” said Platini, adding that a working group would be set up to examine the possible inclusion of cup winners in future versions of the competition.

UEFA will also try and maximise more revenue from the two competitions with the third qualifying round of the Champions League marketed centrally by UEFA.

There will also be greater centralisation of media rights for the UEFA Cup.

No regrets for Tarpishchev over Davis Cup strategy

PORTLAND, Oregon – Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev had no regrets over his strategy for the Davis Cup final against the United States despite his team losing the opening two singles matches on Friday.

Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake gave the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead after Tarpishchev had omitted his top player, world number four Nikolay Davydenko, for tactical reasons.

“I think that our best chances to beat Blake today were with (Mikhail) Youzhny out of all the players that we have,” Tarpishchev told a news conference.

“I don’t think that Davydenko would have beaten Blake today.

“We were not counting on (Dmitry) Tursunov so much as counting on Youzhny winning and we very close to it working out that way. If that would have happened, it would have been very different on the third day.”

Tursunov, ranked 34th in the world, was crushed 6-4 6-4 6-2 by American number one Roddick in the opening match at Memorial Coliseum before Blake held off a gutsy fightback by Youzhny 6-3 7-6 6-7 7-6.

“That second match was played very well,” said Tarpishchev, who guided the Russians to Davis Cup titles in 2002 and last year.

“They were very even. It’s just that fortune went to Blake. I think if we’d have had a fifth set, we would have won. We had a good chance of winning.”

World number 13 Blake has triumphed just once in 11 matches that have lasted five sets while 19th-ranked Youzhny has won nine times out of 17.

The Russians now face an uphill task to keep the Davis Cup final alive with the dominant American Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, set to take on Davydenko and Igor Andreev in Saturday’s doubles.

Winners of five grand slam titles together, the Bryans have lost just one doubles match in 13 Davis Cup appearances.

“Of course the American team has a very good chance tomorrow of winning,” Tarpishchev said. “But, as they say, the ball is round so anything can happen.”

Asked how he would motivate his doubles pairing for Saturday’s pivotal rubber, he replied: “We’ve got a good team.

“Basically we knew what our realistic chances were before the tournament, and now after. They’ve just going to try all out and show the best tennis that we have.”

Aberdeen to complain about treatment of fans

LONDON  – Aberdeen are to write to European soccer’s governing body expressing concern about the treatment of their fans at Thursday’s UEFA Cup match in Spain against Atletico Madrid.

The Scottish Premier League club said on their Web site (www.afc.co.uk) on Friday that they would be writing to UEFA “as a matter of urgency” in the wake of the Group B match which Atletico won 2-0 at the Vicente Calderon stadium.

Trouble started between rival sets of fans just outside the stadium about half an hour before kick off and police became involved. Witnesses said bottles, flares and other objects were thrown.

Aberdeen said one of their supporters was taken to hospital with a head wound allegedly caused by a police baton but there were no reports of any fans being arrested.

Spanish media reported that two Atletico fans had been detained and 11 people were treated for minor injuries. None required hospital attention.

“We are still in the process of documenting everything that occurred from the time of the draw until the conclusion of game and in particular the way in which some of our fans were treated outside the stadium,” an Aberdeen spokesman said.

He added that the club had repeatedly asked for additional tickets well in advance of the game and been told there were none, although there were plenty of empty seats on the night.

“As a result of our concerns for potential problems, we involved the (British) Consul at an early stage and they have been aware of the relevant issues,” the Web site said.

“Those, along with the reported mistreatment of Aberdeen supporters, will form the basis of a detailed report that we will be submitting to the governing body over the course of the next few days.”

Blake win puts U.S. 2-0 up in Davis Cup final

PORTLAND, Oregon  – James Blake earned the United States a commanding 2-0 lead with a gutsy 6-3 7-6 6-7 7-6 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the second singles match of the Davis Cup final on Friday.

American number one Andy Roddick had outclassed Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-4 6-2 in the opening rubber of the three-day tie at Memorial Coliseum.

Blake, who lost to Youzhny in their only previous encounter in last year’s semi-final, held off a spirited fightback by his opponent in a fluctuating contest lasting three-and-a-half hours.

The American world number 13 failed to serve out for the match when leading 5-4 in the fourth set, but he held his nerve to clinch the tiebreak 7-3 when 19th-ranked Youzhny netted a forehand.

“He played great and he’s got a lot more experience than me in situations like this,” a jubilant Blake said in a courtside television interview.

“For me to come through is a big moment for me and for the team. It’s definitely my best performance. And playing at home makes it a lot more fun.”

Blake’s victory puts the United States on the brink of a record 32nd Davis Cup title with the dominant Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, due to take on Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev in Saturday’s doubles.

The Bryans, winners of five grand slam titles together, have lost just one doubles match in 13 Davis Cup appearances.

FEELING GOOD

Big-serving Roddick fired down 25 aces against Tursunov to wrap up victory in just under two hours and put the United States in early control.

“I felt pretty good out there,” Roddick, 25, told a news conference after improving his career record to 3-1 over the Russian.

“I’ve been serving pretty well in practice all week. I felt like I found my groove and that makes it a lot easier when the court is quick enough to take action on the serve.”

Roddick, who regularly unleashed serves in excess of 140 kph on the slick, indoor surface, paid tribute to the crowd of just under 13,000.

“They were amazing and when they stood in that last game of the final set it was probably one of the coolest experiences of my career so far,” said the American, who lost to Tursunov in five sets in last year’s semi-final.

Tursunov, ranked 34th in the world, survived three break points in the third game of the opening set before being broken in the fifth after hitting a backhand wide.

Roddick squandered his first set point in the ninth game but held serve in a tight 10th that featured a further six set points to forge ahead 6-4.

The American world number six broke his opponent in the third game of the second set and survived his only break point in the eighth before unleashing his 19th ace of the match to take it 6-4.

Roared on by the near-capacity crowd, Roddick swept through the third set after breaking Tursunov in the first and fifth games to give the U.S. a perfect start in their bid for a first Davis Cup title since 1995.

Holders Russia, who beat Argentina in last year’s final in Moscow, have lost to the United States twice in three Davis Cup ties.

India in complete command of Kolkata Test

India took firm control of the second Test against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens as they ammased 98 runs in the session, for the loss of just one wicket, that of overnight batsman Wasim Jaffer for 202. Local boy Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman looked completely in command over proceedings as the duo dominated the Pakistani bowlers right from the word go. India went into lunch at 449 for four, with Ganguly on 62 and Laxman on 41.

The Indian opener began the day from where he left off the previous evening as he struck a magnificient backward punch through cover point off Shoaib Akthar to begin his scoring for the day. The ball after next, he played one past gully for four to reach his second double-century of his brief international career. However, he could not extend his knock beyond 202 as he stabbed at one from Sohail Tanvir that slanted away from him.

Jaffer’s knock was the best innings by an Indian batsman against Pakistan in India. He surpassed his former opening partner Virender Sehwag and Anshuman Gaekwad as both of them scored 201 against Pakistan on previous occasions.

After Jaffer’s departure, VVS Laxman joined Ganguly at the crease and his approach was nothing short of positive. He got off to a brilliant start with a typically well-timed forward push off Tanvir for a boundary, and since then never lowered his tempo. Once he set his eyes in, Laxman looked ominous, as he played some sumptuous ground-strokes off Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir. India breezed past 400 in a Tanvir over, which fetched them 17 runs, including four boundaries. Pakistan tried pulling things back, but once Ganguly reached his second half-century at Kolkata, the runs started to bleed once again for the hosts.

Ganguly came up with some of his typical strokes through the off-side, and looked completely flawless throughout his stint in the crease this morning. His timing was brilliant, and what made the timing look better was the placement of his strokes.

Pakistan’s bowling, which lacked intensity on the opening day improved in the initial part of the morning, thanks to an overnight talking by Geoff Lawson. But once, the runs started to flow, they looked jaded and listless.

India will be eyeing a heavy score of around 600 and ensure they dont bat again in the remainder of the Test match.