Blake advances after shaky start

MELBOURNE, Australia - James Blake overcame a shaky start to give sometime hitting partner Alex Kuznetsov a lesson in how to play at the majors with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 drubbing in the second round of the Australian Open.

In the women's draw, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis reached the third round, Clijsters by beating Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0, and Hingis with 6-2, 6-2 win against Russian Alla Kudryavtseva.

Fifth-seeded Blake lost his serve twice and trail ed, 3-0, in the first set to the No. 216-ranked Kuznetsov. But he turned things around with winners off his go-for-broke style, and never faced another break point.

"I know how dangerous he can be," Blake said. "I think maybe at that point he started realizing what he was doing, what court he was on and kind of the arena that he was in.

"That's something I hopefully have going for me now, is a little bit of experience, and to ride that storm that Alex was kind of bringing to me."

From 2-4, he ran off the last four games of the first set, dropping only four points. Suddenly, Kuznetsov was pressing and overhitting.

At one point Blake showed his athleticism by tracking down a backhand in the corner, turning around completely, then rushing to the net on the far side to get to a drop volley that took him out of court. He flicked a forehand that ticked the net and hopped over Kuznetsov's racket for a winner.

He also turned what appeared to be a certain overhead winner for Kuznetsov into a winning lob. Kuznetsov stood afterward with his hands on his hips, as if to say, "What do I have to do?"