Fish advanced to Sunday's final and will face the winner of the semifinal between top-seeded Andy Roddick and Radek Stepanek later Saturday.
Fish reached the final in San Jose one other time, in 2004. Fish beat Andre Agassi in the semifinals that year but lost to Roddick in the final, 6-7 (13) 4-6.
Blake rolled his right ankle late in the final set of his victory Friday night over Sam Querrey. It quickly became apparent Saturday, as Blake limped after shots, that he was still in pain.
"I had no idea his ankle was that bad,'' Fish said. "It's just a testament to James. He's never defaulted in a match in his career. He stuck it out.''
Trailing Fish 1-2 in the first set and limping badly, Blake called for the trainer, who retaped his right ankle. Blake called for the trainer again at the end of the first set and had his ankle retaped for a second time.
"It affected me more than I thought it would have when I did it (Friday),'' Blake said. "I just iced it a few times yesterday and taped it up. I thought I'd be ready to go. I wasn't exactly ready.
"I know it's tough for Mardy to play against someone like that, especially a friend, but he did a good job. ... Obviously he deserves to be in the finals. This is probably the only time in my career I can say I'm actually happy someone else beat me. I wouldn't have been able to perform tomorrow. I wouldn't have been able to be out there deserving of being in the finals. The right person won today. I'm happy for him.''
Fish said it was during Blake's first service game that he realized how badly he was hurt.
"You just have to kind of forget you're playing one of your best friends,'' Fish said.
Blake had particular trouble against Fish's serve. He was aced 16 times, often barely moving as shots zoomed past.
Blake said his trainer assured him he wouldn't risk a more serious injury by playing. So he played on.
"I thought if I wasn't going to hurt it any more, I could suck up the pain for 20 minutes, 30 minutes and make it a little better for the fans, hopefully, and better for Mardy to feel like he earned a victory, which he did,'' Blake said. "He did a great job of staying focused the whole time, especially against a friend that's injured.''
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