LAS VEGAS - Top seed James Blake missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of the Las Vegas Open on Thursday thanks to a bizarre quirk of the round-robin system being trialled on the men's tour.
Needing to beat Argentine Juan Martin del Potro with the lossof no more than five games to advance, the defending champion was leading 6-1, 3-1 when his opponent retired because of breathing problems, handing Blake a walkover.
Blake was denied a place in the last eight, however, as the rules state games won or lost in a walkover do not count. His quarter-final place went to Evgeny Korolev on a head-to-head basis after the Russian beat Blake earlier in the competition.
Had Blake won a completed match with the loss of no more than five games, all three players would have been level on sets won and the American would have advanced due to a higher percentage of games won.
Korolev will meet Sam Querrey in the last eight after the American teenager beat his compatriot Paul Goldstein 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Austrian fourth seed Juergen Melzer crushed Paul Capdeville 6-2, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final with Czech Jan Hernych, who beat former world number one Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 6-4, 6-4 in his final round-robin match.
Seventh seed Tim Henman, still suffering from the after-effects of a virus, was beaten 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 by Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who will play either Australian second seed Lleyton Hewitt or Thomas Johansson of Sweden.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco will play either Marat Safin or Igor Kunitsyn in the other quarter-final.
