Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - 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.
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. The
massive-serving Isner, who leads the tour in tiebreaks played this year, fired
20 aces on Day 3.
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.
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 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.
Also advancing to the second round were Argentine Leonardo Mayer, France's
Benoit Paire and Slovenian Grega Zemlja.
The Sports Network