James Blake outlasts Stefan Koubek on another late night at Open

NEW YORK, Sept 2 -- James Blake put in another long night's work at the U.S. Open, and his play only got better as the match went on.

The No. 6-seeded Blake reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows by beating Stefan Koubek 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in a match that began Saturday night and finished a little after 1 a.m. Sunday.

By late in the third set, the ushers gave up on trying to keep order, and spectators walked through the aisles looking for good seats even during play. Normally in tennis, there's supposed to be movement in the stands only at changeovers.

"There's a million things to do on a Saturday night in New York City and for you guys to still be out here at 1 a.m., it really means a lot," Blake told the crowd. "You make me feel like I am out -- I'm at a party here. This is a great feeling."

One he might be getting used to.

Blake's previous match stretched past midnight, too. In that one, which started Thursday night, he needed nearly 3 1/2 hours to get past Fabrice Santoro for his first career fifth-set victory.

Before that, Blake's record in five-set matches was 0-9.

Against the 63rd-ranked Koubek, Blake was superb down the stretch. After making 45 unforced errors over the first three sets, he didn't make any in the fourth.

There were a total of 17 breaks of service, 10 by Blake -- and he needed one when Koubek served for the third set at 5-4. A forehand winner allowed the American to break at love to get to 5-5, and another forehand won the ensuing tiebreaker.

From there, Blake was in command.

As soon as I got that third set," Blake said, "I felt like I was going to build on that confidence and I started ripping."

Bidding for a third consecutive quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open, Blake next faces No. 10 Tommy Haas .

Must be tired right?

"I'm ready to play again on Monday," Blake said.