Blake leads USA charge at Delray Beach

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- No. 1 seed James Blake picked up a 6-1, 6-4 win over Xavier Malisse Thursday to reach the quarterfinals at the Delray Beach Championships.

Blake's opponent in the round of eight will be Igor Kunitsyn, who advanced by downing Max Mirnyi 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Blake was joined by five fellow Americans in the quarterfinals -- Sam Querrey, Vincent Spadea, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri and Bobby Reynolds. They all won in three sets.

Querrey survived against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; Spadea defeated Gilles Muller 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Fish rallied to beat Ivan Navarro 2-6, 7-5, 6-3; Ginepri won over Michael Russell 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; and Reynolds ousted Diego Hartfield 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3).

In the quarterfinals, Ginepri will play Fish, Spadea will take on Querrey and Reynolds will meet Kei Nishikori.