Ferrer, Isner advance at U.S. Open
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Fourth seed David Ferrer and American hopeful John Isner were a pair of first-round winners Wednesday at the 2012 U.S. Open.
The gritty Spaniard Ferrer straight-setted 6-foot-8 South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) at Armstrong Stadium. Anderson misfired for 31 unforced errors on Day 3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
"It was not easy match, no, with Anderson," Ferrer said. "He's a really good player. He's very strong first and second serve. I'm happy."
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Ferrer's second-round opponent will be Dutchman Igor Sijsling, who defeated Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on a beautiful day in New York City.
The ninth-seeded Isner held off talented Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-6 (11-9) in just under three hours at Ashe Stadium. Isner saved two sets points in the fourth-set tiebreak.
The massive-serving Isner, who leads the tour in tiebreaks played this year (50), fired 20 aces on Day 3.
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Up next for the 6-foot-9 Isner will be Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.
Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic had to come all the way back in order to beat France's Guillaume Rufin in five sets, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. It marked the fifth time in his career that the gritty Tipsarevic has overcome a two-sets-to-love deficit on the ATP World Tour.
Nifty Frenchman Richard Gasquet, seeded 13th at this Big Apple fortnight, came back to beat Spaniard Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
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Former world No. 1 star and 2001 U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt moved on with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 come-from-behind victory over German Tobias Kamke. The 31-year-old Aussie veteran Hewitt is also a former Wimbledon champ.
Mild upsets came when Latvian Ernests Gulbis took out No. 21 German Tommy Haas 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, Luxembourg's Gilles Muller grounded 28th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), and German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe took out 29th-seeded Serb Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. The two-time U.S. Open semifinalist Youzhny has now lost in the first round in his last two trips to New York.
American Brian Baker moved on with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Czech Jan Hajek and will meet Tipsarevic in the round of 64. Sidelined by a host of surgeries over the years, the 27-year-old Baker is playing at America's Open for the first time since 2005.
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Also advancing to the second round were Argentine Leonardo Mayer, France's Benoit Paire, Slovenian Grega Zemlja, and Steve Johnson, who topped fellow American Rajeev Ram 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.