Blake proves fit to play for title

James Blake says he has been working on his fitness.

He needed every bit of extra energy, every quickened step Saturday to advance to today’s final of the Countrywide Classic at UCLA.

Second-seeded Blake defeated seventh-seeded Hyung-Taik Lee, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach his third final of the year, and it was a challenge for the ninth-ranked player in the world.

“I figured if I’m going to win a lot of matches throughout the summer, I’m going to have a lot of three-setters. It’s not like any tournament is going to come easy,” Blake said. “Luckily, I’ve been preparing really since the clay-court season for being physically fit.... Hopefully it’s paying dividends now. I’m feeling really fit; I was feeling great today.”

He will need that fitness again today against unseeded Radek Stepanek in the final. Stepanek advanced in a walkover Saturday when wild-card entrant Nicolas Kiefer withdrew because of a knee injury.

“In the end of the day, I save a lot of energy because ... Nicolas is a big fighter and I would expect a very, very tough match. I could save the energy for tomorrow’s final because James is playing well here,” Stepanek said.

But Saturday’s semifinal could have been much easier for Blake, who won in Sydney, Australia, in January and lost to Xavier Malisse in the final at Delray Beach, Fla., in February.

Blake twice squandered triple-break points, including one when he trailed, 3-2, in the second set and failed to convert any of five break points. Blake, who was tied for the ATP lead in break-point conversion percentage before the match, was only four for 15 on Saturday.

Blake, serving at 3-3 in the third, needed six game points to hold. But in the next game, he recovered from a 30-love deficit to break Lee.

“Anything can happen where you get a little frustrated, but I think now, at 27 years old, I’m much better at not letting a little frustration turn into a big frustration, turn into a whole slide of lost points,” Blake said.

Lee, playing in his first semifinal this year, used a devastating backhand return several times in the second and third sets to mitigate Blake’s high-velocity serves.

“I was hoping he would have missed a couple more of them, but he hit it well,” Blake said. “When you’re playing anyone in the semis, you know they’re playing well. With that being his best shot, I kind of figured it was going to be on today.”

Blake will try to tie Andre Agassi’s and Roger Federer’s mark of three titles in U.S. Open Series events. The series, which began in 2004, includes the summer matches leading up to the U.S. Open.

“It’s a good feeling and hopefully the start of some good things in the summer,” Blake said. “I’d love to continue to have a good summer and play a little better.”

For Kiefer, things seemed to be going well at UCLA. The 30-year-old German played well in only his fourth tournament back since injuring a wrist in the 2006 French Open.

Kiefer said he woke up with pain in his left knee, an ache that has given him problems intermittently. After warming up, he said, the soreness wouldn’t go away and forced him to withdraw.

Because of the walk-over, fans with tickets to Saturday night’s action can use their tickets for today’s finals.

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ken.fowler@latimes.com