John Isner battles past Horacio Zeballos to reach quarters – US Men’s Clay Court Championships 2012
Second seeded local star, John Isner, needed three sets to outmuscle the Argentinean contender, Horacio Zeballos, at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships 2012 on Thursday. He joggled up a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 victory against the world number 117 to secure a
place in the final eight at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Texas, United States.
Isner, who recently made a final berth at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, re-kindled his spark at this clay court event and dumped the left-handed Argentinean in their third meeting. After earning the spotlight in two hours and 13 minutes, the American
improved to a 3-0 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Zeballos.
The 6’9” American high-spiritedly entered the River Oaks Country Club and held his serve in the opening game to take the initial lead. Isner blocked the lone breakpoint he faced but failed to cash in any of the four break opportunities, subsequently dragging
the set to the tie-breaker.
However, Zeballos on the other side of net unleashed his skills and jumped to a 5-2 lead before pulling out the opener with a 7-6(3) score line.
The frustrated Isner remained calm in the second set and held his opening serve to level the scores at 1-1. He continued displaying tremendous skills and swiped in his remaining serves. The American got the breakthrough in the fifth game and bagged the equaliser
by winning six games to four.
Isner kept momentum rolling into the final set and after Zeballos held his serve in the third game, he blasted massive forehands to wind up the proceeding five games successively. He was never challenged with any breakpoint and capitalised on both break
chances to steal the show.
Isner will square off against his compatriot, Ryan Sweeting, who eased past Bobby Reynolds in straight sets to set-up this battle. The world number 143 slid his entire serves without facing any hindrance and broke Reynolds’ serve three times to formulate
a 6-3, 6-2 score line. He produced a slightly lower first serve share but spectacularly clicked 32 out of 34 points on it.
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