Isner upsets Federer in Paris
Third-seeded Roger Federer finally cracked under the unrelenting serve of John Inser, losing 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (5) to the 13th-seeded American in the third round of the Paris Masters.
Rafael Nadal, seeded seventh, almost followed him through the exit door, saving a match point in a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2 win against 11th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was not at his best, either, advancing to the quarterfinals by beating 14th-seeded Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion now plays No. 5 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who beat No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3, 6-4.
No. 2 Andy Murray had the easiest path to the last eight, routing David Goffin 6-1, 6-0 in a prelude to the Davis Cup final later this month. Murray opens Friday’s quarterfinals against No. 10 Richard Gasquet, who advanced when Kei Nishikori of Japan retired while trailing 7-6 (3), 4-1. In other news: • Top-seeded Venus Williams rallied to beat Saisai Zheng of China, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and advance to the semifinals of the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China.
The win extends Williams record to 2-0 in Group A.
Svetlana Kuznetsova kept alive her slim chances of reaching the semifinals when fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki retired from their roundrobin match.
Third-seeded Karolina Pliskova defeated sixth-seeded Sara Errani 6-0, 6-3.
The tournament brings together 11 of the top players who did not qualify for last week’s WTA Finals in Singapore, including Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic and Roberta Vinci.
The qualifiers compete in a four-group round robin format, with the winners of each group advancing to the semifinals.