Winston-Salem Open Tennis 2012: John Isner Defends His Title

American John Isner is in position to win his second straight Winston-Salem Open after defeating top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to advance to the tournament’s final. Isner, the third seed, defeated Tsonga 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, with the third set ending after Isner won a tiebreak 7-3.

Isner, a native of North Carolina, will face second-seeded Tomas Berdych, who hails from the Czech Republic. Berdych defeated seventh-seeded Sam Querrey in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Querrey’s serve was dominant on Friday as he aced Berdych 18 times, but it was still not enough to win either set.

Isner has had a tough road to the semifinals, going three sets in the second round against Slovakian Martin Klizan before dispatching Austria’s Jurgen Meltzer in straight sets in the third round, 6-4, 6-3.

The other semifinal will see American Sam Querrey take on Thomaz Berdych. Berdych survived dropping the first set to unranked Steven Darcis on Thursday and reeled off two straight sets to beat the Belgian 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilifried Tsonga, Sam Querrey and John Isner were all winners in the quarterfinal round of the Winston-Salem Open on Thursday. Tsonga was the only player to win in straight sets, defeating Marcel Granollers, 6-1, 6-2.

The day began with Berdych facing Steve Darcis. Berdych had struggled recently, having dropped five of his last seven matches coming into the tournament. He’d been a consistent player until this summer, when he was ousted in the first round of both Wimbledon and the London Olympics. But after dropping the first set to Darcis, Berdych came back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

The Winston-Salem Open continues Thursday with quarterfinal action at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will look to advance to the semifinals for a potential match with defending champion and No. 3 John Isner, but must first get past No. 6 Marcel Granollers of Spain.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks to live up to his top seed at this week’s Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday as he takes on Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in round-of-16 action from North Carolina.

Tsonga easily took care of Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in the first round, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), and looks to continue to cruise into the next round Wednesday. Marcel Granollers-Pujol, who took care of business against American Ryan Harrison on Tuesday night, is the highest-ranked opponent Tsonga could face in his quarter of the draw.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lived up to his top seed in the 2012 Winston-Salem Open on Tuesday night by beating Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to advance to the third round of the ATP tournament.

Tsonga, currently the No. 6-ranked player in the world, will face Ukranian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky in the third round. Stakhovsky advanced by knocking off 15th-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain, 6-2 6-3.

With the qualifying final round concluding earlier in the day, the first round of singles finally got underway Sunday for the 2012 Winston-Salem Open with six matches taking place.

James Blake looked sharp to get things started as he beat Spain’s Albert Ramos 6-4, 6-3 with seven aces Sunday night. Blake now advances to take on the fifth-seeded Andy Roddick in a second-round matchup of the Americans.

While Andy Roddick, Jo Wilfried Tsonga and John Isner are the big names of the Winston-Salem Open, the tournament is actually wide open. Sunday begins the main draw with Saturday’s qualifying rounds almost completed. Action begins at noon.

The main draw in singles competition is 48 players, including four of the qualifiers. In doubles, the draw is 16 teams. First round singles action will last until Monday, when doubles first round play begins. The tournament won’t be televised until Thursday, when the singles quarterfinals get started.