John Isner defeats Horacio Zeballos; moves into the quarterfinals of US Men’s Clay Court Championships
American John Isner, 29th in the world, defeated Horacio Zeballos of Argentina in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of US Men’s Clay Court Championships at River Oaks Country Club, Houston. It took one hour and ten minutes
for the American to ensure his spot at the quarterfinals.
The American has been featured in fourteen main draw ATP Tour matches this year, standing at a level 7-7 mark. He took off the year by putting in his appearance at the Heineken Open, New Zealand where he reached the quarterfinals
winning against Robin Haase of Netherlands before losing to eventual runner-up David Nalbandian of Argentina in straight sets. In his latest appearance at the Miami Masters he ousted Alex Bogomolov Jr. to get into the fourth round of 2011 Sony Ericsson Open,
where he eventually lost to Kevin Anderson.
On the other hand, Horacio Zeballos ranked 94 in the world, featured in six ATP Tour matches, only half of which he has won so far. He lost to Daniel Munoz-De La Nava of Spain in the first qualifying round at Sony Ericsson Open,
Miami, U.S.A. He did not make it past the quarterfinals at the Movistar Open losing to Potito Starace of Italy in straight sets.
The pair’s last meeting came one year back at the 2010 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome, Italy where Isner ousted Zeballos in three sets 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 securing a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head official career.
Playing their second match on courts, Isner kicked off the match in a very aggressive manner, landing with 10 aces and 58 percent of his first serves. The 25-year-old Isner managed to convert 76 percent of his correct first serves
into points. His opponent converted a meagre 59 percent on his 52 percent first serves and the huge disparity between the points turned out to be critical in concluding the outcomes of the first set. Banking on his first serves points only, American clinched
the set with a 7-5 score line.
In the final set, American kept his winning ways and won 100 percent points on his 75 percent first serves. Moreover he created 2 opportunities to break and converted all of them and won 100 percent of service points in total.
Argentine on the other hand seemed a bit tame as he could not manage to win the way he hoped. He didn’t convert any breakpoint opportunity and lost the set with 6-3 score line.
4th seeded John Isner now moves on ahead to face Ivo Karlovic who is a qualifier into the tournament. This will be the third meeting between them, given their last two meetings on courts, both players leads their head-to-head on
even terms 1-1.
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