Blake storms into quarters

Top seed James Blake cruised into the last eight of the Delray Beach International on Thursday after winning in straight sets against Chilean Paul Capdeville.

Blake, ranked 12th in the world, won 6-1, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final match with Russian Igor Kunitsyn.

The 28-year-old Blake is one of six Americans to make the last eight -- the first time since Memphis in 2003 that such a number have made the quarter-final stage.

"It's a great thing. Maybe eventually we'll get a Sports Illustrated or somebody to write that American tennis is not dying and that we're alive and well," said Blake.

"We're Davis Cup champions and now we're having a good week here and hopefully we'll have someone raising the cup at the end of the week too."

Robby Ginepri won 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 over compatriot Michael Russell to keep his revival in form going. Ginepri, a wildcard entrant ranked 169th in the world, broke in the first and third games of the third set to take a decisive lead.

In the quarters, Ginepri will take on another American, Mardy Fish, who fought back to beat Spain's Ivan Navarro 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Argentine Diego Hartfield, who pulled off an impressive first-round win over second seed Tommy Haas, lost 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 to American Bobby Reynolds.

Third seed Sam Querrey continued the successful day for the Americans as he held on for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, while Vincent Spadea scored a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Luxembourg's Gilles Muller.

In addition to Kunitsyn, the only other non-US player in the last eight is Japan's Kei Nishikori, who beat Amer Delic 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 to reach his second career quarter-final in just his sixth ATP tournament.