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Blake opens Moselle Open with win

James Blake, shown at this year's U.S. Open, was a straight-set winner Monday as the Moselle Open tennis tournament began in France. UPI Photo/Monika Graff
James Blake, shown at this year's U.S. Open, was a straight-set winner Monday as the Moselle Open tennis tournament began in France. UPI Photo/Monika Graff | License Photo

METZ, France, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- James Blake claimed a straight-set victory Monday as the Moselle Open tennis tournament began in France.

Blake defeated wild-card entrant Albano Olivetti 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in the only main-draw match on Monday's schedule.

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Blake swept through the first set and was a break up in the second before Olivetti managed a break-point chance. He converted it and that led to the tiebreaker.

Blake dropped just 11 points over 10 service games, winning 79 percent of the points on serve.

Olivetti pounded out 19 aces, which accounted for half the points he won on serve. Blake had a pair of first-set breaks and a third early in the second.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, ranked seventh in the world and the Moselle Open defending champion, is seeded first this week. He and the other top four seeds -- Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marcel Granollers and Florian Mayer -- have first-round byes.

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