It’s advantage US, says Blake
Home advantage will give the US a massive boost when they host 2006 champions Russia in this month's Davis Cup final, says singles mainstay James Blake.
The Americans will face the Russians on the indoor surface in Portland, Oregon from Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
"I think for Andy (Roddick) and myself it's a great situation," Blake said  on Thursday.

Pakistan win   second leg
Aisam Qureshi showed great form to score a straight sets win over Ashutosh Singh as hosts Pakistan levelled the tennis series against India, reports PTI from Islamabad.
Aisam’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Ashutosh came on Friday after Indian captain Vivek Shokeen beat Aqeel Khan in a hard fought encounter to give the visitors a sniff of victory in the two-leg test series.
Shokeen scored a 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 6-3 win over Aqeel before Aisam dashed India’s hope of pocketing the series. In the men’s doubles on Thursday, Aisam and Aqeel had got the better of Shokeen and Ashutosh 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).
Karnataka record big victory
Somanna scored a brace as Karnataka opened their campaign with a 5-1 win over Indian Universities in the 44th Nehru Cup hockey tournament on Friday, reports UNI from New Delhi.
For Karnataka, Anup Anthony (19th) opened the scoring, while Row Bhengra scored the second just before the break. Somanna (60th, 62nd) and KP Dinesh (65th) completed the tally. Navin Kumar scored for Universities.
Bangalore Urban post win
Bangalore Urban defeated Mysore 24-26, 25-14, 25-18 in the State junior inter-district volleyball championship at Chandagalu in Mandya district on Friday.
Bangalore Urban had beaten Chikmagalur and Shimoga in earlier matches.
Results:
Boys: Bangalore Urban bt Mysore 24-26, 25-14, 25-18; Bangalore City bt Udupi 26-18, 25-16; Tumkur bt Haveri 25-10, 25-10; Kolar bt Chitradurga 25-20, 14-25, 15-12; Dakshina Kannada bt Bagalkot 25-11, 25-21; Hassan bt Chikmagalur 25-12, 25-18; Bellary bt Bangalore Rural 25-11, 25-11; Bangalore Urban bt Chikmagalur 25-12, 25-14; Bellary bt Kolar 25-18, 25-16; Udupi bt Tumkur 18-25, 25-22, 25-22; Bangalore Urban bt Shimoga 23-25, 25-17, 25-22; Dakshina Kannada bt Mandya 25-23, 25-20.
Girls: Dakshina Kannada bt Bagalkot 25-21, 25-20; Mysore bt Mandya 25-9, 25-11; Bangalore City bt Bagalkot 25-22, 25-14; Chikmagalur bt Bagalkot 25-16, 17-25, 15-8.
Karnataka pick up three points
Karnataka garnered three points by virtue of their 165-run first-innings lead as their three-day South Zone under-15 league tie for the Polly Umrigar Trophy against Kerala ended in a draw in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, reports DHNS.
Brief scores: Kerala: 210 all out in 115.4 overs and 134/3 in 57 overs (Navneeth Jose 52, Abhishekh Mohan 32) drew Karnataka: 375/9 decl in 103 overs (Shreyas Gopal 96, Aman Raj 92, Vishnukanth 40 n.o., Vikram Venkatesh 39; Abhishekh Mohan 2-84, R Ranjith 2-42).
Madras varsity emerge champs
University of Madras beat defending champions Osmania University 3-0 in the final to win the South Zone Inter-University tennis championship on Friday, reports DHNS from Mysore.
In the third place play-off, Bangalore University downed Visvesvaraya Technological University (Belgaum) 2-1.
All four semifinalists — University of Madras, Osmania, Bangalore and VTU — have qualified for the All-India Inter-University event at Udaipur from December 27.
Results: Final: Madras University bt Osmania University 3-0 (Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Sunder Krishna 7-5, 6-0; Mohammad Fariz bt KH Praveen 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Vijay Sundar Prashanth/ Tariq Jacob bt Sunder Krishna/ KH Praveen 6-3, 6-2).
Third place play-off: Bangalore University bt Visvesvaraya Technological University (Belgaum) 2-1 (Kaushik Raju bt Shishir S Patil 6-3, 3-6, 2-6; Kaushik Raju/ Jagadeeshan Kumar bt Prateek/ Praveen 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5); Prateek bt Jagadeeshan Kumar 4-6, 6-3, 6-4).


CITY SPORT

BASKETBALL: State Association Cup, Sree Kanteerava stadium, 7.30 am & 3.00 pm.
CRICKET: Ranji Trophy Super League, Karnataka vs Himachal Pradesh, Day 3, Chinnaswamy stadium, 9.30 am.
FOOTBALL: BDFA league, Super Division (3.45 pm) and ‘A’ Division (1.45 pm), Bangalore Football Stadium.