Zabaleta stuns Blake in Houston

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Having already conquered fourth seed and defending champion Mardy Fish and fifth-seeded Jurgen Melzer, Zabaleta will play for the championship on Sunday against another unseeded player, Croatia's Ivo Karlovic, in the final.

Karlovic defeated Spain's Albert Montanes 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in Saturday's other semi-final.

The last qualifier to win an ATP title was Nicolas Almagro one year ago in Valencia, while Fernando Gonzalez was the last qualifier to win the US Men's Clay Court title in 2000.

Zabaleta, who is ranked number 156 in the world and entered this tournament with a 1-3 record, saved three set points in the tiebreaker before rallying to knock out Blake.

Ranked ninth in the world, Blake entered this event after winning a pair of matches last week to lead the United States past Spain in the Davis Cup quarter-finals.

Having never advanced past the quarter-finals in Houston, Blake looked primed to go all the way while preparing for the French Open.

Instead, Zabaleta broke Blake in the 11th game of the first set to take the lead.

Blake earned his first break in the eighth game of the second set but the Argentine broke right back before closing out the match in the tiebreaker.

Zabaleta is seeking his fourth career title against Karlovic, who has yet to win on tour but will be appearing in his third career final.