Blake, Haas move ahead in Indianapolis
The 28-year-old American survived a tough first set before winning the tie-breaker and then dominating Sela in the second set to advance.
After struggling with his serve in the first set, Blake settled down as the match wore on and kept Sela off balance with a stronger serve in the second.
“I just started going for it,” Blake told reporters.
“When you mis-hit sometimes, you start aiming it and it goes a little slower and it ends up not being as effective.
You’re not getting it where you want to.”
Fourth seed Sam Querrey of America moved on with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Japan’s Go Soeda, setting up a second round match with compatriot Vincent Spadea, who beat Donald Young 6-2, 6-4.
Germany’s Tommy Haas also advanced after beating Jesse Levine 7-6, 6-2, setting up a second-round meeting with American John Isner, who overpowered Robert Kendrick 7-5, 6-4.
“It’s always difficult when you play each other for the first time in a match,” Haas said of Levine.
“We’ve known each other for quite a long time and we practice together once in a while, but a match is a totally different story.”
Sixth seed Fabrice Santoro was upset 7-6, 7-4 by wild card Rajeev Ram, ranked 210th in the world.
“It was certainly a quality win,” said Ram. “He doesn’t really give you anything, so putting together two sets of good tennis is great.”
No 8 seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil was another first-round casualty, falling to Alejandro Falla of Colombia 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, while American Bobby Reynolds knocked out last year’s Indianapolis finalist, Canadian Frank Dancevic, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: 4-Sam Querrey (US) bt Go Soeda (Japan) 6-4, 6-4; Vince Spadea (US) bt Donald Young (US) 6-2, 6-4; 1-James Blake (US) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; Jun Woong-Sun (South Korea) bt Chris Guccione (Australia) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); 5-Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Jesse Levine (US) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2; John Isner (US) bt Robert Kendrick (US) 7-5, 6-4; Rajeev Ram (US) bt 6-Fabrice Santoro (France) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4; Alejandro Falla (Colombia) bt 8-Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Bobby Reynolds (US) bt Frank Dancevic (Canada) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2; Wayne Odesnik (US) bt Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) 6-4, 7-5.
SCHNYDER ADVANCES
STANFORD (California): Veteran Patty Schnyder breezed past American wild card Amber Liu 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday in a first-round match at Stanford Classic.
The fifth-seeded Swiss made quick work of the Liu, eliminating the 328th-ranked player in just 44 minutes.
The 29-year-old Schnyder, currently the world No 13, was coming off a disappointing opening-round loss to Casey Dellacqua at Wimbledon.
Monday proved to be a difficult day for the host country and was followed by Liu’s exit on Tuesday.
The biggest name to bow out was Lindsay Davenport, who withdrew due to a troublesome right knee. The 32-year-old won this event in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
Davenport was replaced in the draw by Australian Samantha Stosur, who defeated Russia’s Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-1, on Tuesday in a first-round match.
In upsets, Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova upended No 7 Nadia Petrova of Russia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada topped eighth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Michelle Larcher ousted Gisela Dulko, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), and will face Williams, who received a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds.
Defending champion and second seed Anna Chakvetadze will meet Israel’s Shahar Peer a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Melinda Czink of Hungary on Tuesday.
Results:
First round: Anne Keothavong (Britain) bt Sania Mirza (India) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1; 5-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) bt Amber Liu (US) 6-1, 6-1; Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) bt 8-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Shahar Peer (Israel) bt Melinda Czink (Hungary) 7-5, 6-0; Michelle Larcher de Brito (Portugal) bt Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 7-5, 7-6 (7-1); Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt 7-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Samantha Stosur (Australia) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) 6-3, 6-1.
—Agencies