MELBOURNE, Australia - Tampa's James Blake needed just 75 minutes to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open, beating Olivier Patience 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday.
The 23-year-old's only misstep came when serving for the match in the sixth game of the third set. He sent a forehand into the net on one point and wasted two match points before dropping serve.
Otherwise, he was on his game, hitting 41 winners to Patience's 12 and winning 25 of the 30 times he went to the net.
"This is the furthest I've gone in a Slam, and I want it to continue," Blake said. "I was really happy with my first-round match, and today I got even better. I feel I played pretty darned well. I like to think it had more to do with me than with him."
He gave Patience one break-point opportunity.
"He was really strong, all-around strong. He tried a lot of different things and brought a lot of them off," Patience said. "He returned serve so well that he makes you tense up."
Blake next faces Marat Safin, who reached the 2002 final in Melbourne. The Russian outlasted Todd Martin 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. Paradorn Srichaphan, seeded 13th, beat Gustavo Kuerten, a former No. 1, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
For the women, top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne and fourth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo continued to cruise. Henin-Hardenne topped No. 30 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-5.
Mauresmo, who has dropped six games at the Open, defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-2.
"I feel good in my game," Mauresmo said. "A few things are coming together."
She next faces Australia's Alicia Molik, who advanced with No. 11 seed Vera Zvonareva and No. 32 Fabiola Zuluaga.
Blake led 4-0 in the third set and had the crowd at Margaret Court Arena on his side until Patience produced a winner from a reflex half-volley at his feet on the baseline.
Blake applauded that stroke but was more concerned two points later when Patience jumped the net as he chased a drop shot.
The hustle seemed to inspire Patience and the crowd.
The Frenchman lost that game on serve, but broke Blake in the next game, then held serve to pull to 5-2.
Blake didn't have any problems after that, however, as he cajoled himself to stay focused between serves. He clenched his fist and threw a small punch in the air when he closed out the match.
Patience said he admires Blake's no-nonsense approach.
"He seems a good guy on court, an absolute pro," he said.
Safin, playing his first Grand Slam since last year's Australian, fell behind two sets to one. He was warned by English chair umpire Mike Morrissey in the sixth game of the third set after slamming the ball high into the crowd.
Safin, who was U.S. Open champion in 2000, regained his composure to break Martin's serve three times in the fourth set. The 3-hour, 25-minute match ended when Safin whipped a crosscourt return at Martin's feet on his first match point.
MUCH ADO ABOUT I DO: Talk of marriage is replacing tennis talk at the Open. Lleyton Hewitt spoke about his engagement to No. 2-ranked Kim Clijsters on Thursday.
"She can organize it," Hewitt said of his wedding date, which the couple has not disclosed. "We don't talk about tennis most of the time. But if we do need anything, I think we both know when to talk about tennis and when not to, as well."
Hewitt said his relationship with Clijsters has been great for both.
"She obviously saw what I was going through, the pressures of being a top player maybe a year or so before she got into the top five, top two in the world," he said.
"We've both just been really able to help each other out when we need to throughout the year."
Earlier in the week, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne discussed her 2002 wedding to Yves Pierre Hardenne.
"It helped me a lot, gave me a lot of confidence, a lot of security and I feel much better since I'm married," she said.
FINE TIME: Fabrice Santoro, a Davis Cup winner with France in 2001, was fined $1,500 for spitting toward a line judge during a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Mark Philippoussis.
Television cameras captured Santoro spitting in the line judge's direction after a disputed call in the fourth set of the second-round match. He was fined for unsportsmanlike conduct, the ITF said.
A total of $9,250 in fines has been handed out at the Open. Belgium's Xavier Malisse has been fined $1,000 three times for unsportmanslike conduct.
