Bobby Reynolds stuns John Isner to claim a quarter-final berth – Apia International Sydney 2012
Crowd at the NSW Tennis Centre in Sydney, Australia was in for a huge surprise, as the world number 17, John Isner of the United States, fell to his fellow compatriot, Bobby Reynolds, in his season-opening clash on Wednesday. The second round matchup of the Apia International Sydney witnessed the American qualifier dumping the second seeded competitor in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250-level tournament.
29-year-old Reynolds took one hour and 51 minutes of play to register the biggest upset of the tournament so far. It was the very first encounter between the two Americans and the 126th veteran proved his superiority over the second seed Isner in a convincing fashion. He dropped the opening set to fall on his back foot early in the match but made a tremendous recovery to turn the tide on his opponent, reeling off the last two sets of the competition to claim his first victory of the 2012 ATP season.
Although Isner banged in 20 cracking aces and secured 41 out of 56 first serve points in the contest, the second seeded American failed to cash in his opportunities in the match to finish on the losing side in the end. He converted two out of three break points, while the American qualifier registered three out of seven serve breaks en route to victory.
Isner was off to a fiery start in the opener, breaking his opponent in the second game of the match to race to 3-0 lead. Reynolds failed to regroup and submitted the first set to Isner at 3-6, letting the second 1-0 lead in the contest.
Momentum shifted to the other side in the second set, when Reynolds stung his first break point of the day in the 10 game, sealing the set at 6-4 to bring the contest on even terms. Isner broke once in the final set but two serve breaks from Reynolds left him speechless in the end. The American veteran closed out the contest at 6-3, earning a date with Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the quarter-final round.
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