For two sets Thursday afternoon, James Blake had come full circle. The worst year of his life was behind him, a year in which he broke his neck, contracted shingles, and endured the death of his father. After missing most of last season, he was finally back in the tennis spotlight and playing his best.

With his blistering forehand always at the ready, Blake rattled Lleyton Hewitt, the world’s third-ranked player, in front of his home fans at the Australian Open before succumbing 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-0, 6-3. From the outset, Blake dictated the pace of play, forcing Hewitt to scramble with punishing returns. He won the first by one break, but it didn’t seem that close.

In the second set, Blake found himself serving for the set at 6-5. He couldn’t hold, though, and Hewitt pushed him to a tiebreak. There, Blake had one last chance to drop Hewitt into a deep hole. Leading 6-5, Blake had a look at a soft second serve but tensed up on his backhand and guided the ball into the net. The next six points were the best of the match, including rallies of 22 and 26 strokes.

The next six points were the best of the match, including rallies of 22 and 26 strokes. Blake saved two set points, punctuating one with a salute to the crowd that mocked Hewitt’s frequent celebration. But as brilliant as Blake was, Hewitt was better, hitting a volley lob for a winner and ending the set with an acrobatic backhand volley that the diving Blake could not retrieve. Blake requested treatment for a cut on his hand before starting the third set, and he soon found himself down 3-0.

Afterwards, Blake talked positively about the loss, saying his return to elite tennis was underway.

“I’m lucky this has happened to me when I’m 25 instead of when I was 19,” he said. “I don’t know if I would have had the patience to want to come back.”

Thursday evening, Andy Roddick had his way with Greg Rusedski, who played a bit older than his 31 years. Rusedski was downright awful in the first set, netting volleys and feeding Roddick cream puffs. Roddick won the set at love.

In the second set, Roddick seemed in control at three games all when he played a loose service game. He started it with a double fault and later dumped a routine backhand into the net. Then, on break point, Roddick was charged with a double-fault after a questionable call from the chair umpire. Blessed with an unexpected opportunity, Rusedski wasted little time, winning the next game at love with an ace.

In the end, the deck was stacked too heavily against Rusedski. He’s not as quick as he once was, and the slow courts of Melbourne are not kind to those who earn their bread by serving and volleying. Roddick is at best an average service returner, but he had little trouble pulling out a 6-0, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Roddick and Hewitt are seemingly destined for a semifinal match, though challenges lie along the way. Hewitt has an easier path, with Juan Ignacio Chela next on Saturday and either teen sensation Rafael Nadal or American upstart Bobby Reynolds from there. Guillermo Coria (who has already played one exhausting match), Juan Carlos Ferrero, or David Nalbandian could face Hewitt in the quarterfinals. Roddick should trample his next two opponents before squaring off next week against Britain’s Tim Henman, who has taught Roddick a lesson or two in the past.

The top half of the men’s draw will provide the better fireworks this weekend. Andre Agassi will take on Taylor Dent in a clash of styles. Agassi, who loves this surface, will likely best his net-playing opponent, setting up a battle with the powerful Swede Joachim Johansson, who defeated Roddick at last year’s U.S. Open.

Unfortunately for Agassi, things only get worse from there: World no. 1 Roger Federer will undoubtedly await him in the quarterfinals. And Federer will be rested, too, after playing two matches this weekend against the unseeded Jarkko Nieminen and either the claycourt specialist Tommy Robredo or qualifier Marcos Baghdatis.

The next highest seed in the top half of the draw, Russia’s Marat Safin (no. 4), could be tested by Mario Ancic on Friday. From there, Thomas Johansson, a former Australian Open champion seeded 30th, is the biggest obstacle between the Russian and the semifinals.

The next highest seed in top half of the draw, fourth seed Marat Safin of Russia, defeated Mario Ancic early Friday, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Little stands between him and the semifinals.

In the women’s draw, Australian Alicia Molik and American Venus Williams are heading toward a Sunday meeting in what could be the match of the women’s tournament so far. The hard-serving Molik has given her country’s long-unrequited fans hope and has an excellent chance of defeating Williams, who will not be able to afford the lax service games she’s able to get away with against lesser players.

Lindsay Davenport will likely face the winner of that match in the quarterfinals, provided she isn’t upset by a promising 15-year-old from the Czech Republic named Nicole Vaidisova. Russians Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva should advance easily, too, and later vie for a spot in the semifinals against Molik, Davenport or Williams.

In the bottom half of the women’s draw, second-seed Amelie Mauresmo moved into the fourth round early Friday with a 6-2,7-5 victory over Serbian Ana Ivanovic. Mauresmo survived a brief scare when she lost a set to Dinara Safina, Marat Safin’s younger sister, in the second round, but she should have no problem advancing to the quarterfinals. There, she’ll likely add to her Grand Slam futility by losing to Serena Williams.

The latest addition to the Russian tennis empire, 18-year-old Vera Douchevina, advanced into the fourth round early Friday. There she will face another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose tennis has not been troubled by the controversy surrounding a drug test she allegedly failed in an exhibition in Belgium.

Kuznetsova said she was taking cold medicine at the time, and all of tennis has come to her defense. So far, her opponents have wished that she had come down with something more severe. And whom might Kuznetsova, the U.S. Open champion, meet in the quarterfinals? Why another Russian, of course, this one by the name of Maria Sharapova.