Blake moves on in Winston-Salem

Aug 20, 2012 - 3:06 AM Winston-Salem, NC (Sports Network) - James Blake was a first-round winner at the $550,000 Winston-Salem Open, a final U.S. Open tune-up.

The American downed Albert Ramos of Spain 6-4, 6-3 on the hardcourts at Wake Forest University.

Blake had seven aces and advances to a second-round matchup against fifth- seeded Andy Roddick.

Other first-round winners included American Ryan Harrison, Belgian David Goffin, Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, Steve Darcis of Belgium, and Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr.

Harrison downed Go Soeda of Japan 6-3, 7-5, Goffin beat France's Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, Giraldo defeated Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, Darcis took out countryman Xavier Malisse 6-3, 6-0 and Bogomolov Jr. topped Tunisia's Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-2.

American John Isner defeated France's Julien Benneteau in last year's final.

The 2012 Winston-Salem champion will collect $73,930.