Isner upsets Baghdatis, Safin advances in LA

Los Angeles: Big-serving American John Isner continued his red-hot run at the LA Open with a commanding 6-3, 7-6 victory over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.A day after eliminating seventh-seeded German Benjamin Becker, Isner overcame former world number eight Baghdatis with another confident display at the LA Tennis Center.

Although Baghdatis saved five match points in the second set tiebreak, the six-foot-nine American scraped through 13-11 to seal the win in one hour 50 minutes. "I stayed calm and didn`t panic even though I had two match points on my serve in the tiebreak," a beaming Isner told reporters. "It was a high-quality match and I played well.” "This is my favourite time of the year and I enjoy playing on hard courts," said the towering American, who reached his first ATP semi-final of the season in Indianapolis last week. "I was serving and hitting my forehand really well. I was happy to come out with a victory." Isner, 24, unleashed 11 aces to advance to his fourth quarter-final this year and will next meet Australian qualifier Carsten Ball. World number 205 Ball booked his place in the last eight for the first time on the circuit when third-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov, runner-up here in 2006, retired hurt with a back injury while trailing 4-6 1-0 in their encounter. Eighth-seeded Russian Marat Safin also advanced, reaching the quarters for the third successive year in Los Angeles after coming from a set down to beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Former world number one Safin, playing on the ATP circuit this season for the last time, trailed 0-2 in the final set before twice breaking Gulbis and then serving out for victory in one hour 45 minutes. In the last eight, Safin will face either top-seeded German Tommy Haas or American wildcard Jesse Levine. Haas, tournament champion in 2004 and 2006, will launch his bid for a third title at the hardcourt event when he takes on Levine later on Wednesday. Bureau Report