ISNER TESTED IN WINSTON-SALEM OPENER

Written by: Staff on 21st August 2012

ISNER TESTED IN WINSTON-SALEM OPENER

epa03335343 John Isner of the USA serves to Switzerland's Roger Federer during the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 02 August 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN during the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Originally found at: (http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/08/34/Winston-Salem-Tuesday-Isner-Tested-In-Opener.aspx)

Defending champion John Isner survived a scare in his second-round opening match Tuesday at the Winston-Salem Open, overcoming 50th-ranked Slovakian Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Isner went up the decisive break, 6-5, before serving out the match in two hours and two minutes.

“The first one is normally the toughest,” said the World No. 10. “Credit to him, he came out and was playing pretty well, and I wasn’t on top of my game and that’s all it took in the first set. From that point on, I knew it was going to be a battle.

Isner has lost in his opening match only three times this season, most recently at Wimbledon (l. to Falla). Since then, he has reached the quarter-finals or better in four tournament appearances, including semi-final showings in his two stops of the summer hard-court swing in Atlanta and Toronto.

“I wasn’t that great out there today, but I think as the tournament progresses I’ll keep getting stronger,” he said, looking forward to his next match against Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Melzer, the No. 13 seed, prevailed against American qualifier Michael McClune 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(10) in just over two hours. Both players saved match points in the third-set tie-break.

Ninth seed Feliciano Lopez, the World No. 31, saved eight of nine break points to beat American Donald Young 6-2, 6-3 in 72 minutes. Lopez will next meet another American, seventh seed Sam Querrey, who beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-3, 6-2 in a match carried over from Monday.