John Isner, Monfils Advance At Legg Mason Classic

John Isner edged neighbor, friend and doubles partner James Blake 7-6 (0), 1-6, 7-6 (4) Thursday in a match delayed a day by rain to reach the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

The 11th-seeded Isner hit 13 aces and overcame 46 unforced errors, including seven double-faults, to beat Blake for the second time in a two-week span. Isner also needed three sets to beat Blake at Atlanta last month, the first time they faced each other on the professional tour.

Because rain wiped out half of Wednesday’s schedule, the tournament began matches Thursday at noon, four hours earlier than scheduled, and some players were forced to play twice in one day.

Top-seeded Gael Monfils, for example, faced 15th-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the third round at night, after having defeated 66th-ranked Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the start of the day.

No. 5-seeded Fernando Verdasco—one of the lucky ones who didn’t need to play twice—got to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 9 Nikolay Davydenko.

From: http://ping.fm/kGDsm