Isner Faces Mahut Again as Rosol Wins in Stuttgart

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant

(July 10, 2012) With the Olympics right around the corner, several top players are getting some last minute preparation on the grass courts of Newport, Rhode Island while others are playing in a variety of ATP 250 events in Europe.

Isner and Mahut Meet Again in Newport

At the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, top seed and defending champion John Isner got off to a slow start against Sergei Bubka as Isner split the first two sets. But a missed overhead from Bubka down break point late in the final set gave Isner the go ahead to close out a 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 win.

Isner now sets up a second round meeting against France's Nicolas Mahut in a meeting that was supposed to take place in the same round of Wimbledon this year before Isner lost in the first round. It's the third meeting between the pair on a grass court in three years.

No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori and No. 3 seed Milos Raonic also advanced while No. 4 seed Denis Istomin fell to American Tim Smyczek 6-3, 6-3.

Rosol Knocks Out Haase in Stuttgart

Fresh off of his shock upset of Rafael Nadal in the opening week of Wimbledon, Lukas Rosol took out another seeded player in this week's Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. This time it was No. 5 seed Robin Haase who fell 6-4, 7-5 to the big serving Czech.

Other winners on the day included No. 8 seed Tommy Haas while No. 7 seed Lukasz Kubot fell to Germany's Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.

Ferrero Falls In Croatia

At the Vegeta Croatia Open Umag, No. 6 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero fell to 19-year-old Mate Pavic 6-2, 6-2 on the strength of Matic's 62 % first serving percentage.

No. 5 seed Carlos Berlocq defeated Ivan Dodig 6-0, 6-4 while No. 8 seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin fell to American Wayne Odesnik 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-5.

Volandri Wins in Bastad

No. 5 seed Mikhail Kukushkin was the highest seed to fall on the day at the Skistar Swedish Open in Bastad. Kukushkin fell to Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver 64, 3-6, 6-3 while No. 7 seed Filippo Volandri advanced over Sweden's own Michael Ryderstedt 6-4, 6-2.