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After being hit with numerous player withdrawals and halted matches earlier this week, Thursday night the Mercedes-Benz Cup finally received what it had been asking for: an exciting match between two young U.S players on center court before a large sellout crowd. In front of nearly 5,000 people, unseeded Robby Ginepri defeated fan favorite James Blake 6-3,7-6 in what may well have been the tournament’s most competitive match thus far. “It was a real battle out there,” Ginepri said. “When you are playing someone as athletic as James, it seems like you have to win six points just to win one.” Blake and Ginepri, longtime friends, fought through two extra-point games in the second set before Ginepri started off the tiebreaker 4-0 and finished the match by winning 7-2. For Ginepri, Thursday’s match was a continuation of what has been a thrilling two-week period for the 22-year-old Georgian native. Last week, Ginepri upset top-seeded Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the RCA Championships in Indianapolis and finished off the week by defeating fourth-seeded American Taylor Dent to win the tournament. Thursday night, Ginepri moved past the second round for the first time in five career appearances at the Mercedes-Benz Cup, and he now moves on to face Gilles Muller, who defeated former UCLA player Zack Fleishman earlier in the tournament.It has been a long time coming for Ginepri, who was once ranked No. 35 in the world and was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, but had recently fallen to No. 95. “The last few weeks have been about a lot of hard work,” Ginepri said. “Even when I got to that high position in the world rankings a few years ago, I knew my best tennis was still ahead of me, and I think I have proved that.” Ginepri faced stiff competition throughout the match, needing to capitalize on his high level of play and often recapture the momentum.Blake had twice come back from 15-40 deficits to lead the second set at 5-4, and 6-5, but Ginepri refused to back down, holding serve throughout the match and coming back to win the tie-breaker 7-2. “I was really proud of my serve out there tonight,” Ginepri said. “I have been really working on that facet of my game, and you can see that it paid off tonight.” For Blake, Thursday’s match was another case of what could have been. Since suffering a fractured vertebrae in May 2004, Blake has only gone 13-15, and has yet to regain the form that made him the No. 23 player in the world in 2003. “It was there for me again to take,” the distraught Blake said after the match. “If a few points could have gone here or there, who knows what could have happened. But I can’t sit here and complain about it.” Blake will now continue to play doubles with Xavier Malisse of Belgium at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, following the featured match between Ginepri and Muller.

AGGASI: Top-seeded Andre Agassi continued his domination of the rest of the field Thursday, defeating former UCLA player Kelvin Kim 6-2, 7-5 in straight sets. Agassi, who finished with eight aces and never faced a break point, now moves on to face Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand in the quarterfinals, with the match taking place Friday at 2:00 pm. Agassi’s appearance in the tournament is his first live action since aggravating a back injury in the French Open two months ago.