Isner holds his nerve
American wins the battle of the big serves
Last Updated: February 22, 2012 6:31am
John Isner: Needed two tie-breaks to see off Gilles Muller
Top seed John Isner had to dig deep to see off Gilles Muller at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis.
Neither player dropped their serve in the first-round encounter - with American Isner holding his nerve in the two tie-breaks to come out on top 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-4).
Wildcard Sam Querrey joined his compatriot in the next round after he recovered from a slow start to beat Alejandro Falla.
The Colombian had won the opening set but Querrey hit back to secure a 2-6 6-3 6-4 win.
Ryan Sweeting and Ryan Harrison won their respective all-American clashes against veteran James Blake and youngster Jack Sock.
However Robert Kendrick crashed out as he lost 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to Sergiy Stakhovsky.
