RAJEEV RAM UPSETS JOHN ISNER IN NEWPORT RHODE ISLAND “HALL OF FAME” TENNIS NEWS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 14th July 2015

RAJEEV RAM UPSETS JOHN ISNER IN NEWPORT RHODE ISLAND "HALL OF FAME" TENNIS NEWS BY RICKY DIMON

John Isner of the USA in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their semi-final round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 03 April 2015. EPA/RHONA WISE |

Ram upsets Isner in Newport, joined by Brown in second round

Former champion and No. 1 seed John Isner is out after just one match at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Isner went down to fellow American Rajeev Ram–another past winner of this event–in a thrilling 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(8) contest on Tuesday.

In a surprise twist at the end of the opening set, Ram seized the first service break of the day at 5-5 only to get broken right back at 6-5. With momentum on his side, Isner took the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to five.

One more service break in Ram’s favor set the stage for a tense third set. Neither competitor faced a single break point en route to a seemingly inevitable conclusion–a decisive tiebreaker. They took turns saving match points with big serves out wide to the ad court before Ram gained a crucial mini-break at 8-8 when Isner failed to execute a serve-and-volley play. The world No. 161 took care of his next service point to finish off the upset.

“It’s sort of suited to old-school tennis,” Ram said of the Newport grass, “and I feel like I can play that pretty well with almost anyone around. It came down to a couple points. I was able to get him today.”

Ram is now a stellar 12-5 lifetime at this tournament with a title in 2009 and a semifinal showing in 2012. Isner was well aware this was going to be a difficult opening test.

“It was a tough match on these courts, and I just didn’t play well enough to win,” the world No. 18 lamented. “He served well and on these courts, anything can happen.”

Dustin Brown of Germany returns to Rafael Nadal of Spain in their second round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 02 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Speaking of impressive serving, Dustin Brown fired 18 aces in a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Swiss qualifier Adrien Bossel. Brown put in 70 percent of his first deliveries, won 80 percent of those points, and saved both of the break points he faced.

“It was difficult,” the Jamaican-turned-German assured. “I was lucky that I was able to serve my way out of the tough situations in the first set to stay in there. It took a while to adjust to the grass; it’s a lot different than the last few weeks that we played on.”

That may have been in reference to Wimbledon, where Brown famously upset Rafael Nadal during second-round action earlier this month.

Briefs

* Karlovic gets past Marchenko, can climb as high as No. 21 with Newport title.

* Querrey beats Ebden in two tiebreakers, should move at least three places to No. 33.

* Sock inches closer to U.S. Open seeding, likely up at least four spots to 35th.

* Jaziri sees off Pavic, can reach top 80 with one more victory.

* Brown blasts past Bossel, but must win one more match to stay in top 80.

* Lacko deals Desein a three-set loss, likely into top 90.

* Roger-Vasselin overcomes Kavcic, can make double-digit jump into top 140 with quarterfinal.

* Ram upsets Isner, needs one more victory for top 150.

* Hernych keeps run going as qualifier, must reach quarterfinals to surge into top 200.