Isner, Mahut reach quarters in Newport

Lleyton Hewitt also advances to the last-eight stage.

NEWPORT: Two-time champion John Isner and defending champ Nicolas Mahut eased into the quarter-finals at the ATP Tour’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

Two-time runner-up Lleyton Hewitt of Australia also advanced in an emphatic fashion with a straight-set win in the grass-court tournament.

“It was a pretty clean match,” said Isner. “I got an early lead on both sets and that helps so much. I play pretty well when I play [up a break].”

Isner will now face fellow American Jack Sock in a quarter-final on Friday.

Meanwhile, former world number one Hewitt humbled Croatian qualifier Ante Pavic 6-2, 6-2, while the fourth-seeded Frenchman Mahut rolled over Australia’s Luke Saville 6-4, 6-2.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2014.

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