HOUSTON (AP) — Third-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain had four of his 13 aces in a tiebreaker to overpower Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday night in the second round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at River Oaks Country Club.
Lopez, ranked No. 15 in the world, played on clay for the first time this year and fell behind 4-1 in the opening set before unleashing his big serve to pull out the set. Lopez had three aces to take a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker and closed it out with an ace at the fourth match point.
Top-seeded Mardy Fish, ranked No. 9 in the world, and second-seeded John Isner, No. 10, will play their first matches Thursday. They had first-round byes.
Fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa got control of his serve in the second set and beat Brazil’s Joao Souza 6-3, 6-4 in a first-round match.
