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ROME : Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka was the first man to reach the Rome Masters semi-finals here on Thursday after he upset eighth seed James Blake 6-7, 7-6, 6-1.
This is the first time that Wawrinka has reached a Masters Series semi-final and is his second semi in a row following his exploits in Barcelona last week.
The American had started well and battled hard to stay in the match despite frequently dropping his serve but he crumbled at the end in the heat of the Italian capital.
Blake was broken early on in the first set but he hung in there and broke back for 4-4 before forcing a tie-break.
He got the mini-break in that and served for the set at 6-5, securing it when Wawrinka drifted a forehand wide at the end of a lengthy rally.
But the second set followed a similar pattern as the American dropped his first service game before breaking back immediately.
He dropped it again for 5-3, though, as he went long with a backhand but Blake's battling qualities saw him dig in to save four set points on the Wawrinka serve before breaking back for the third time in the match with a forehand winner down the line.
That prompted some typically American fist pumping and a bellowed 'come on!'
Wawrinka had a time out to get some treatment on his back but that did not seem to hamper him as the match went to a second tie-break.
In the tie-break, though, Blake again gave up an early mini-break and this time Wawrinka held on, sealing the set with a backhand winner.
Once again the American was broken at the beginning of the third set only this time he wilted rather than rising to the occasion and was broken again for 4-1 as he struggled to deal with the Swiss's deep forehands.
The final two games were a wash out as Blake's head dropped and his resistance ended with a feeble backhand into the net.
- AFP /ls
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