Two-time defending champion John Isner beat Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (9/7) on Thursday night in his opening match at the Atlanta Open.
The top-seeded Isner has made the Atlanta finals four of the past five years, winning the previous two after losing to Mardy Fish in 2010 and 2011. This was the first time in six Atlanta appearances that he was not taken to three sets in his first match.
Stepanek — previously 4-1 against Isner — stretched both sets only to see Isner move to 12-1 in Atlanta tiebreakers since 2012.
Photo: AFP
Fans in the Atlantic Station favored the former University of Georgia star, especially when the former Bulldog trailed in the second.
“[With] the Georgia fans, the barks in the crowd, it feels like I’m playing a college match,” Isner said after moving to 17-3 in Atlanta.
Isner took the first set with his 17th ace, but Stepanek — a 36-year-old, 20-year pro from the Czech Republic — registered the first service break of the match when he launched a forehand winner to lead 3-2 in the second set.
After trading holds, Isner broke back in a game where he turned his back to the net and ran to save a deep ball by popping it high in the sky. That set up an eventual passing shot that surprised Stepanek.
“I certainly got lucky right there,” said Isner, who now lives in Tampa, Florida. “He hit it right back at me and I was able to hit a winner. He had some double faults in that game as well.”
Earlier, Ukrainian qualifier Denis Kudla upset third-seeded Jack Sock 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, and No. 6 Steve Johnson and No. 8 Benjamin Becker also tumbled out.
Israel’s Dudi Sela, who fell in last year’s final to Isner, beat Becker, from Germany, 7-5, 6-3, and Ricardis Berankis of Lithuania rolled past Johnson, 6-4, 6-2.
Swiss Open
All eight seeds have reached the Swiss Open quarter-finals, making the clay-court tournament the first on the ATP circuit to achieve that feat in six years.
Sixth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal saved three match points to preserve the record on Thursday, going on to beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Top-seeded David Goffin of Belgium needed only 45 minutes to win 6-1, 6-1 against Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.
Third-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria also beat an Argentine opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 against Federico Delbonis.
Thiem next faces seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno of Spain, who won 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 against Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
Hamburg Open
Rafael Nadal eased into the Hamburg Open quarter-finals on Thursday with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic as the Spaniard continues to try and resuscitate his flagging season.
The top-seeded Mallorcan, playing the summer clay-court tournament for the first time in seven years, faces fifth-seeded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, who battled past Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Nadal, the 2008 champion in Hamburg, extended his clay record this year to 23-6 as he looks to add to his 46 clay-court titles.
“I think I played a good match,” the 29-year-old said. “Something that I am proud of today, very happy with, is my attitude and I’m very happy with the way that I played. I just need a little bit more consistency.”
Fourth seed Andreas Seppi beat German wild-card Florian Mayer 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and faces Italian compatriot Simone Bolelli, who earned a 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win over Spain’s Jaume Munar.
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