Blake loses to Fish in battle of American friends

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mardy Fish charged into the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time after stunning his friend and ninth seed James Blake 6-3 6-3 7-6 in an all-American clash at the U.S. Open on Saturday.

Blake, twice an Open quarter-finalist, was the favorite against Fish, who is ranked 35 in the world and was playing in the third round for the first time at Flushing Meadows.

But Fish made clear he meant business from the start, breaking his Blake's serve in the first game. In the second set he broke early again to take a 3-1 lead and Blake struggled to find his rhythm.

Blake started the third set serving well but stuttered again at 2-2, when Fish chased the ball down before trapping Blake at the net with a delectable lob on break point.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Fish showed signs of nerves as the crowd tried to roar on the more popular Blake. Fish registered two double faults and sent the ball into the net on break point to allow Blake back in the match.

In the tiebreak, however, Blake missed several groundstrokes and Fish closed it out 7-4 with an ace and a strong final serve that Blake put in the net.

"It's obviously extremely tough out here, it feels like he's got 20,000 friends screaming in my ear," Fish said in a courtside interview.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)