NEW YORK // The ninth-seeded American James Blake was pushed to five sets by his compatriot Donald Young before completing a 6-1 3-6 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory to bring the curtain down on the opening day. Blake looked poised to make quick work of Young, leading two sets to one and up 2-0 in the fourth before the slender left-hander caught fire. Young battled Blake fiercely to level the set at 2-2, breaking his serve on his seventh break point of the game and breaking again in the 10th game to force a fifth set.
Blake, 28, twice an Open quarter-finalist, claimed the only service break of the final set in the ninth game, taking a 5-4 lead when the 102-ranked Young sailed a forehand long. He ended the two-hour, 48-minute slugfest on his second match point, when Young, playing his first career five-setter, netted a backhand. "Donald really picked up his game and really played great toward the end of the match," said Blake, who committed 50 unforced errors in the match. The 10th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who helped fellow Swiss Roger Federer fulfil his Olympic dream by winning the doubles crown in Beijing, beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 7-6 6-3 6-3. David Ferrer beat Martin Vassallo Arguello 7-6 6-2 6-2.
The British sixth seed Andy Murray lived up to his billing as a title contender when he gave the unlucky Sergio Roitman a run-around in a 6-3 6-4 6-0 mauling. Roitman's compatriot David Nalbandian enjoyed better fortune and beat the Brazilian Marcos Daniel 6-1 6-2 6-4. * Reuters