WIMBLEDON, England -- James Blake received a standing ovation after stretching former champion Richard Krajicek to five sets in a marathon second-round match at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old American was beaten 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 11-9 in a match decided by just one break of serve in each set. The last set lasted 1 hour, 8 minutes, and the match took 3:07.

"It seemed to come down to a point here and there, and he came up with the good shots at the right time,'' Blake said. "These are getting tough to lose. I hope it will help me in the long run.''

The victory was a major step on the road to recovery for Krajieck, the 1996 Wimbledon champion, after he missed nearly 18 months due to injury.

Despite the length of the match, he showed no sign of the elbow injury that needed surgery in March last year and nearly forced him into retirement.

Blake, who is making his debut at Wimbledon, wasn't intimidated by Krajicek's reputation on grass, and served and volleyed aggressively. He hit a number of winning backhand passes down the line, but Krajicek used 32 aces to pull himself out of trouble.

Krajicek called for the trainer to treat his right shoulder at 4-3 in the first set, and then broke for a 5-3 lead when Blake hit a forehand long. Krajicek then closed out the set with a reflex backhand volley.

Blake was soon in trouble again in the second set, putting a backhand half-volley into the net to drop his serve at 1-1, and he failed to convert two break points on Krajicek's serve at 2-3.

It was not until late in the third set that Blake managed to stall Krajicek, earning a break for 5-3. Another break for 2-1 in the fourth set was enough to square the match, and in an evenly contested final set the early chances also fell to Blake.

He held break points in the first and fifth games of the set, and Krajicek had to wait until the 20th game to earn his only break point.

That came after the best rally of the match, with Blake making several great gets before sprawling to the ground in a desperate attempt to make another retrieval. A long forehand on the next point ended the match.