Sydney, Australia (Sports Network) - Top-seeded John Isner lost to
qualifier and fellow American Ryan Harrison in the second round Wednesday
at the Sydney International tennis event, a final Australian Open tune-up.
Harrison took down his taller compatriot by a 6-4, 6-4 margin at Sydney
Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
Meanwhile, Denis Istomin, Bernard Tomic and last year's Sydney runner-up
Julien Benneteau also pulled off upsets. Uzbekistan's Istomin beat fourth-
seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3, the Aussie crowd favorite Tomic
defeated fifth-seeded German Florian Mayer 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 and the French
Benneteau moved on when sixth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek retired from
their match in the first game due a back injury.
Italian Andreas Seppi, the No. 3 seed, outlasted wild card John Millman of
Australia by a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 margin, while eighth-seeded Spaniard Marcel
Granollers beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
Reigning Sydney champion and 2009 runner-up Jarkko Nieminen of Finland cruised
past Ivo Klec of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1, while South Africa's Kevin Anderson
defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4. Klec replaced No. 2 seed Gilles
Simon of France in the draw. The 2011 Sydney champion Simon pulled out due to
neck injury.
Thursday's quarterfinals will pit Seppi against Granollers, Tomic versus
Nieminen, Harrison against Benneteau, and Istomin versus Anderson. Nieminen
beat Benneteau in last year's finale here.
The Sports Network