Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Fourth seed David Ferrer, former
champion Juan Martin del Potro and American hopeful John Isner were a trio 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."
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 seventh-seeded del Potro erased French lucky-loser Florent Serra 6-4, 7-6
(7-4), 6-4. Serra replaced del Potro's fellow Argentine David Nalbandian in
the draw Wednesday morning.
The 6-foot-6 del Potro stunned Roger Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final.
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.
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.
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; Spaniard Tommy Robredo doused 26th-seeded Italian
Andreas Seppi 6-1, 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.
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.
The Sports Network