"He is going to be a good player, for sure," Bjorkman said of Blake in a press conference. "He has got good strokes, he is a good athlete and I think he seems like he is quite cool on the court as well and I think that is going to help him a lot. The more matches he gets the better he will be."

Stevenson fell to Asa Carlsson, 6-4, 6-4, and Bjorkman and Carlsson beat Blake and Stevenson 6-3, 6-3 to win 3 matches to none.

On Wednesday, the U.S. faced off against Belgium and almost pulled off an upset.

Stevenson, a tournament replacement for Monica Seles, won over No. 14 Dominique Van Roost in three sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, and Blake took No. 94 Xavier Malisse to three sets before losing, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3.

In the deciding mixed doubles match, the Americans fell in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Blake, who has had a whirlwind year on the pro tour, was a late replacement for No. 82 Justin Gimelstob, who skipped the tournament with back spasms.

Blake began 1999 ranked 682 but shot up the ladder as he began playing more tournaments.