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Blake ousted from Medibank International

James Blake of the USA plays against Michael Russell of the USA during Round 1 of the U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in New York on August 28, 2007. (UPI Photo/Laura Cavanaugh)
1 of 2 | James Blake of the USA plays against Michael Russell of the USA during Round 1 of the U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in New York on August 28, 2007. (UPI Photo/Laura Cavanaugh) | License Photo

SYDNEY, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Two-time defending champion James Blake was ousted in straight sets Monday in the first round of the Medibank International tennis tournament in Sydney.

Blake entered the hard-court tournament seeded third and with the 2006 and 2007 Medibank titles to his credit but Fabrice Santoro eliminated Blake 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

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Top-seeded Richard Gasquet got past Igor Andreev 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) and No. 4-seeded Tomas Berdych swept by Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-3 in first-round play. Eight-seeded Fernando Verdasco had a tougher time by made it to the second round with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over Feliciano Lopez.

Also winning Monday in Sydney were Sebastien Grosjean, Gilles Simon and Agustin Calleri.

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