While former Fairfield resident James Blake came up short again in his bid to play in the second week of Wimbledon in singles, he is still going strong in doubles.

Blake, who lost in the first round of singles to Andreas Seppi, teamed with good friend and his Tampa, Fla. neighbor Mardy Fish to reach the semifinals in doubles.

In Blake's first doubles appearance in Wimbledon since 2002, he teamed with Fish to upset the No. 3 seeded team of Leander Paes/Lukas Dlouhy in straight sets in the first round. Blake and Fish, one of three men's players who have committed early to next month's Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, dropped one set in fourth matches. They will face the No. 2 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the semifinals.

As a point of reference, Fish has six career doubles titles (including the 2004 Houston and San Jose championships with Blake) while Blake has won five doubles titles. Nestor and Zimonjic have won 12 titles including last year's Wimbledon since teaming up in 2007. Nestor, who has 60 career doubles titles, won the 2000 Olympics with Sebastien Lareau and the 2002 Australian Open, 2004 U.S. Open and 2007 French Open with Mark Knowles. Zimonjic's 28 career doubles titles includes the 2007 Pilot Pen while playing with Mahesh Bhupathi.

LORD SISTERS WIN TITLES
The Lord sisters out of Bloomfield accounted for half of the girls' singles' titles at the recently completed New England Junior Sectionals at the Connecticut Tennis Center.

Dayna Lord, the fifth seed, won the girls' 16-and-under title with a 6-2, 7-5 win over No. 2 seed Ashley Noyes who was part of the doubles team which eliminated Lord in the semifinals of doubles.

Melissa Lord, seeded third, won the 14-and-under singles championship beating Kimmy Guerin of Weston 6-1, 6-1 in the only all-Connecticut singles final. Lord also reached the finals in doubles.

The Paige brothers of Fairfield also attempted to pull off the championship doubles. Sayer Paige emerged with the title in the boys' 12-and-under singles event. Paige did not lose a set until the finals when he outlasted Catalin Mateas of Braintree, Mass. 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

His older brother Nolan, a rising sophomore at Hopkins, wasn't as fortunate as he lost to Alexander Steinroeder 6-1, 6-2 in the boys' 16 singles final.

The area competitors who had the best showings were Jessica Siedman of Woodbridge and Milford's Bradley Orban.

Siedman, who just completed an impressive freshman season at Amity, went 2-2 in the girls' 14 singles draw. She reached the second round in the main draw and consolation quarterfinals in the girls' 14-and-under event.

Orban lost in the first round of the boys' 14 main draw but won four matches to reach the consolation semifinals.

A HELPING HAND
The USTA recently announced it would be take over the running of three tournament websites including the Pilot Pen's in an attempt to "help increase the Olympus US Open Series overall brand presence and awareness."

The Pilot Pen web page will remain the same at www.pilotpentennis.com but more info is also available at www.OlympusUSOpenSeries.com.

BIG HITTERS COMING
For the tennis enthusiasts who don't mind driving a little bit, there are some noteworthy events to highlight in New England and the tri-state area in the coming weeks.

Pilot Pen commits Fish and Taylor Dent are playing in the 2009 Hall of Fame Championships while run from July 6-12 in Newport, R.I. On July 11, Monica Seles leads the newest class which will be inducted into the hall of the fame.

The New York Sportimes of World Team Tennis will have matches featuring Anna Kournikova (July 7), Serena Williams (July 10), John McEnroe (July 13), the Bryan bothers (July 17) and the biggest showcase of them all on when McEnroe faces off in a doubles match against Martina Navratilova on July 15. The Sportimes no longer play its home matches in Mamanoreck but have a new facility in Randall's Island.