Ryan Harrison takes out No. 1 seed John Isner in straight sets on Wednesday in Sydney. Harrison is through to a quarterfinal encounter with 2012 runner-up Julien Benneteau, while Isner exits the tournament along with several other seeds.
Is another all-unseeded final in the cards for the Apia International?
Last year’s title match featured Jarkko Nieminen and Julien Benneteau–both unseeded–and an exodus of seeds is taking place during the 2013 installment. It gained steam on Wednesday afternoon when John Isner fell to Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4.
Harrison took control of this all-American battle late in the first set, but not before he fought off break points in two consecutive service games. The 20-year-old seized a crucial break at 4-4 and promptly served out the proceedings in lightning-quick fashion.
Isner, who was hampered by a knee issue at last week’s Hopman Cup, became increasingly disgruntled with the new time rule in addition to his own game and he never came close to getting back on track in set two. The No. 1 seed dropped serve right away via a wild forehand and from there it was all but over. Harrison, who dropped only three points in the second set, held the rest of the way and finished off his countryman in one hour and 14 minutes.
The world No. 68 withstood 10 Isner aces and finished with three of his own, the last of which came on his second match point.
Next up for the world No. 68 is a quarterfinal clash against Julien Benneteau, who finished runner-up last year to Jarkko Nieminen.
Nieminen booked a spot in the Apia International quarterfinals by dismissing lucky loser Ivo Klec 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon. Klec, who lost in the second round of qualifying but got into the main draw when No. 2 seed withdrew, lasted a mere 46 minutes on court.
Nieminen actually donated serve once, but he more than made up for it with five breaks of his own–two in the first set and three in the second. The veteran Finn won an incredible 22 of 26 second-serve return points.
Benneteau advanced to the last eight in even easier fashion. Radek Stepanek retired in the first game due to an intercostal muscle strain. Fellow seed Fernando Verdasco fared just marginally better than Simon and Stepanek. The Spaniard went down to Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and nine minutes. Istomin did not face a single break point and his third service break came at 5-3 to polish off the proceedings in style.
Nieminen and Benneteau are once again on opposite sides of the draw, so a final rematch is possible. Next up for Nieminen is either Florian Mayer or Bernard Tomic.
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