Blake beat fellow American Sam Querrey 7-6 (9), 6-3 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the San Jose tournament, setting up an intriguing meeting with Fish, his close friend and doubles partner.
Blake hung on to win despite rolling his ankle with just a few points to go. He reached the semis shortly after Fish beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4, upsetting the world's seventh-ranked player.
Top-seeded Andy Roddick also moved into the semifinals with a tough 7-5, 6-4 victory over Germany's Tommy Haas. Roddick will face Radek Stepanek, who beat qualifier Todd Widom 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 in the last quarterfinal match at HP Pavilion, the San Jose Sharks' home arena.
After Fish and Blake meet in their semifinal match Saturday afternoon, they'll team up for a doubles match late that night. They won the doubles title at San Jose in 2004, and both say their games improve when they're working together.
"There won't be any hard feelings,'' Blake said, grinning. "There better not be any hard feelings, or there might be a serve to the back of the head. ... Hopefully, we can go out to dinner tonight, play each other tomorrow, and then go out to dinner again.''
Fish was impressive in beating del Potro, the up-and-coming slugger who already won in Auckland and reached the Australian Open quarterfinals this year.
Fish gave part of the credit for his solid singles play to his doubles work with Blake. The extra court time has sharpened Fish's volleying and aggressive instincts, he claimed after disposing of the 20-year-old del Potro.
"I was able to serve great today,'' Fish said. "And as much as you can with him, I dictated from the baseline with the backhand. When he's got control of a point, it's almost impossible to get it away.''
Querrey, a hard-serving 21-year-old, caused ample trouble for Blake, particularly in a tense first-set tiebreak. The 11th-ranked veteran overcame it while fighting off a variety of minor injuries.
After dropping out of an exhibition against Pete Sampras on Monday because of back problems, Blake turned his ankle while trying to follow up a drop shot during the final game against Querrey. After staying down on the court for several moments, Blake got up gingerly, but finished the last points in his victory.
"All I did was tie my shoe real tight to make sure if it was going to swell, it wasn't going to swell right then,'' said Blake, who reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open in his only previous action this season.
Last year, Blake was hobbled by a knee injury in a quarterfinal loss to Robby Ginepri at San Jose. He hasn't reached the semifinals here since 2003, and hasn't been to any tournament final since last April at the U.S. men's clay court championships in Houston.
"It seems like every year I come here and end up getting a little injured,'' Blake said. "It's hard-court, indoors, in the U.S., which is everything I like. I don't know what it is ... (but) the ankle won't be an issue, and the back is so much better.''
Roddick broke Haas' serve in the decisive game of each set, staying on a roll in his resurgent season. Roddick finished off the match with an exceptional crosscourt, backhand passing shot to beat Haas, the former world No. 2.
"That's the best I've played in this tournament,'' Roddick said. "I just played pretty solid all around. I put in the work in the offseason, and to have it rewarded early in the season is nice, but I've got a long season ahead of me.''
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