Tennis: Robredo ousts Isner in Valencia
Tommy Robredo beat John Isner 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in the first round of Valencia Open on Tuesday.
VALENCIA (AFP) - Fifth seed John Isner crashed out of the Valencia Open in the first round to Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 on Tuesday.
The American, who has only won two matches in four visits to Valencia, lost the opening set in a tie-break after neither man could make an impact on the other s serve.
And world number 21 Robredo got the all-important break in the penultimate game of the match before serving it out for a first win over Isner in four attempts.
Robredo will now face Chinese Taipei s Yen-Hsun Lu in round two.
Fourth seed Feliciano Lopez had an easier afternoon as he eased past Slovakian Norbert Gombos 6-4, 6-4 in little over an hour to set up a last-16 meeting with fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Big-serving South African Kevin Anderson was also a winner in straight sets as he downed Germany s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4.
Anderson is a potential quarter-final opponent for Andy Murray, who continues his quest to reach the World Tour Finals against Jurgen Melzer on Wednesday, and will face Slovakia s Martin Klizan in the second round.
France s Gilles Simon was another seed to fall as he was swept aside by Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-0, 6-3.
And Italy s Fabio Fognini enjoyed an unusually drama free day as he cruised past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-2.
The top two seeds David Ferrer and Thomas Berdych get their campaigns underway on Wednesday against Andreas Seppi and Pablo Andujar respectively.
