Blake fights back to beat Grosjean

By Greg Stutchbury

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - American James Blake fought back from two sets down to seal a dramatic 4-6 2-6 6-0 7-6 6-2 victory over France's Sebastien Grosjean in the Australian Open third round on Saturday.

The 29-year-old Grosjean had raced through the first two sets before the 12th seed blasted him off the court in the third then came from 4-1 down in the fourth and 3-0 down in the tiebreak before running away with the final set.

Blake, who until last year's U.S. Open had not won a five-set match, said it was the best comeback of his career.

"That's got to be my biggest comeback," Blake told reporters. "Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb."

"The fact that I played so well to kind of get myself out of trouble in the fourth set there, I wasn't going to lose that momentum and I wasn't going to let it go the other way.

"That was a good feeling."

Blake said he felt that Grosjean's schedule, including a long five-set second-round match against Robin Haase of the Netherlands and a three-set doubles match, had tired him out.

"Maybe his legs weren't as fresh in the fifth set. That's definitely the way it seemed with the amazing gets he was getting in the first two sets," said Blake.