Top seed John Isner saved all five break points he faced en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ryan Sweeting in the second round of the Delray Beach Tennis Championships on Wednesday. In a battle between two of the biggest men on the ATP Tour, the 26-year-old Isner bombed 10 aces and won 78 percent of the first-serve points to beat Sweeting in the first career meeting between the two Americans. The 206-centimetre tall Isner won for the second time in as many days as the world number 11 saved five set points in a 32-point second set tie breaker to eliminate Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-6 (17/15) on Tuesday. Isner, who is looking for his fourth career title and his first of 2012, made quick work of Sweeting. He recorded just one double fault in the 67 minute match to reach the quarter-finals for the first time at this event. The 196cm tall Sweeting had six aces but struggled on his serve, saving just two of four break points.
The 24-year-old Sweeting falls to 3-6 this season. In other second round matches Wednesday, Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic defeated sixth seed Alex Bogomolov of Russia 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and former Delray Beach winner Ernests Gulbis of Latvia beat Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-3. Gulbis won 89 per cent of his first-serve points and broke Darcis five times in the two hour, 10-minute match. This marks the first time Gulbis has been in a quarter-final since he won the Los Angeles tournament in July by beating American Mardy Fish. Matosevic, who is ranked 173rd in the world, advanced to his first ATP Tour quarter-final.
