Rome - Stanislas Wawrinka ended the improbable clay odyssey of American James Blake with a laboured 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory into the semi-finals of the Rome Masters on Friday. The struggle in two hours, 31 minutes sends Wawrinka onto a career-best 20th ranking from Monday on and gives Switzerland two players in the elite zone for the first time since March, 1991, through number 18 Jakob Hlasek and number 20 Marc Rosset.
Blake, the eighth seed, forced Wawrinka onto the defensive in a torrid conclusion to the second set, with the Swiss finally managing to level the contest after wasting six set points and taking an injury timeout for back treatment.
But Wawrinka found his health in the third set, beginning with a break of the American in the opening game and duplicating that effort to earn a 4-1 lead before concluding with a break on his first match point.
Wawrinka's win paved the way for Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer, who was facing his own quarter-final against Radek Stepanek later in the day.
"I'm certainly not thinking about any kind of final with Roger," said the level-headed Swiss. "I need to be 100 percent for my Saturday semi-final.
Blake was also part of a record in Rome, where Andy Roddick was bidding for the final four later against Spain's Tommy Robredo.
The pair has been shredding the US reputation as clay-court creme-puffs this week, the first time that at least two Americans have reached the Rome quarters since 2002 when Andre Agassi won the title, Roddick reached the semis Blake advanced to the quarters.
Wawrinka has come on strong in recent weeks after playing a clay final last summer against Rafael Nadal in Stuttgart.
The 22-year-old reached the Barcelona semi-finals last weekend, losing to eventual finalist David Ferrer.
He then carried on in Rome with wins over Marat Safin, Andy Murray and Juan Carlos Ferrero, conqueror in the second round of Rafael Nadal.
