Isner survives scare as Ferrer eliminated
Second seed John Isner has stopped the run of big-name departures at the ASB Classic but only after surviving a huge scare from Tunisian journeyman Malek Jaziri.
What began as a dream day for organisers got off to a horrible start when defending champion and top seed Roberto Bautista-agut withdrew due to a stomach virus before third seed David Ferrer was knocked out by Dutchman Robin Haase in Auckland yesterday.
World No 19 Isner looked to be headed the same way when he was taken to a third set tiebreak by Jaziri. However, the big-serving American held his nerve to triumph in a tense finale, 6-3 3-6 7-6.
Isner’s victory sets up a quarterfinal against countryman Steve Johnson, who beat Taiwan’s Yen-hsun Lun 6-4 7-6.
With the top-four seeds receiving a bye in the first round, yesterday was the first chance for the public to see the tournament’s elite in action (fourth seed Jack Sock was to play in the evening session).
But Bautista-agut departed without firing a shot as an illness he picked up during his triumph in India last week left him unable to compete.
Four-time champion Ferrer did not last much longer, stunned 2-6 6-4 7-6 by Haase in the opening match on Centre Court.
After being down a break early in the third set, the veteran Spaniard immediately hit back to set up a tiebreak.
But instead of his experience coming to the fore when it mattered most, he made a crucial unforced error on serve to hand Haase the advantage and he closed out the match to cap a brilliant fightback.
‘‘I did a mistake with my forehand, an easy mistake and well, tennis is that, and it’s very important to [hold] concentration,’’ Ferrer said.
‘‘He served very well in the third set. The court is fast and it’s not easy to break but I didn’t return so well.
‘‘It was a close match and in the important moments he served better than me.’’
The result continues a poor buildup to the Australian Open for Ferrer following a second-round defeat to little-known Aussie Jordan Thomson at the Brisbane International last week.
‘‘Tomorrow night I go to Melbourne and I will try as soon as possible to forget this match and will be focused with the grand slam,’’ he added.
The early signs were promising for Ferrer, who did not concede a single break point to take the first set.
But at 34, the legs don’t move as fast as they used to and the 58thranked Haase ground his way back into the contest by running Ferrer around the court.
Haase insisted, though, that was not his initial strategy.
‘‘If you know David Ferrer, he likes to run so that’s not the right game plan,’’ he said.
‘‘But of course, in the end it’s always better to let someone run than let you have to run all the time but that for sure was not my game plan.’’
Haase, who beat New Zealand’s Finn Tearney in the first round, will meet Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the quarterfinals after he cruised past British qualifier Brydan Klein 6-3 6-4.
Out on Grandstand Court, the Kiwi pairing of Rubin Statham and Tearney suffered a 5-7 5-7 defeat to second seeds Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea in the first round of the doubles.
Statham had little time to regroup, though, having replaced Bautista-agut in the main singles draw, only to lost 7-6 5-7 3-6 to 2015 champion Jiri Vesely.