Blake wins in Basel to maintain Masters Cup charge

American fourth seed James Blake kept on course for a place at the season-ending Masters Cup on Wednesday with a straightforward win in the opening round of the Swiss Indoors.

The world number seven saw off Spain's Oscar Hernandez 6-3 6-4 to set up a second round encounter with towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic .

Lying tenth in the race for the Masters Cup's eight qualifying spots, Blake will climb into joint eighth place this week if he makes it to at least the semi-finals in Basel.

The American number two would then have to stay ahead of his remaining rivals at next week's Masters Series tournament in Paris to guarantee himself a place at the prestigious and lucrative finale in Shanghai.

The players currently holding eighth and ninth spot, Germany's Tommy Haas and Spain's Tommy Robredo , are both unable to pick up any points this week.

Haas made a late withdrawal from the Lyon Grand Prix after suffering a stomach complaint while Robredo went out in the opening round of the same tournament.

"I notice what's going on with the (Masters Cup) race but I'm not worried about it at all," Blake said on Wednesday.