Tennis: Isner, Mahut reach quarters in Newport
Isner and Mahut ease into the quarter-finals at the ATP Tour's Hall of Fame Tennis Championship.
NEWPORT, United States (AFP) - Two-time champion John Isner and defending champ Nicolas Mahut eased into the quarter-finals at the ATP Tour s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
Two-time runner-up Lleyton Hewitt, of Australia, also advanced in emphatic fashion with a straight-set win in the grass-court tournament.
The top-seeded Isner hammered 11 aces in breezing past qualifier Austin Krajicek 6-3, 6-3 in just 63 minutes in Newport, in the United States.
"It was a pretty clean match," said Isner. "I got an early lead on both sets and that helps so much. I play pretty well when I play (up a break)."
World number 12 Isner captured back-to-back titles at the event in 2011 and 2012, and is hungry for more.
Isner, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday s Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball game, will face fellow American Jack Sock in a quarter-final on Friday.
"Sock has an incredibly bright future," said Isner. "He s got a lot of weapons in his game, especially with his forehand. He ll only get better."
Former world No. 1 Hewitt humbled Croatian qualifier Ante Pavic 6-2, 6-2, while the fourth-seeded Frenchman Mahut rolled over Australia s Luke Saville 6-4, 6-2.
Mahut defeated two-time Grand Slam winner Hewitt in last year s Newport final, as Hewitt lost for the second consecutive year in the championship round. Mahut was also a runner-up seven years ago.
Hewitt next faces American Steve Johnson on Friday, while Mahut will play hard-serving Australian Samuel Groth on Thursday.
Second-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic advanced by beating Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-5, 7-6 (7/3). Karlovic fired 18 aces to set up a date with Israeli Dudi Sela.
