By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Jack Sock dismissed Radek Stepanek, 6-2, 6-0, in his Newport opener.
Photo credit: International Tennis Hall of Fame
In a battle of former champions, Rajeev Ram saved a match point to topple top-seeded John Isner, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (8) at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on the grass of Newport.
Jack Sock and Sam Querrey also made winning returns on their home turf.
Sock swept 2013 U.S. Open doubles champion Radek Stepanek, 6-2, 6-0, at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport. Sock, who won his first ATP title on the red clay of Houston in April, did not face a break point in the 58-minute match.
More: 10 Takeaways from Wimbledon
The fourth-seeded Sock will play Lukas Lacko for a quarterfinal spot. World No. 93 Lacko defeated Niels Desein, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
The 31-year-old Ram, who swept singles and doubles titles at the 2009 Newport event, edged two-time former champion Isner in a thriller.
Querrey hit 10 aces squeezing out a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1) over Aussie qualifier Matthew Ebden.
Querrey will face Dustin Brown, who scored his second grass-court win over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon earlier this month. Brown blasted 18 aces beating Adrien Bossel, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
“I was lucky that I was able to serve my way out of the tough situations in the first set to stay in there," Brown told the ATP. "It took a while to adjust to the grass, it’s a lot different than the last few weeks that we played on.”
Japan's Yuichi Sugita was a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victor over American Ryan Harrison. Sugita will play Ram for a quarterfinal spot.