Argentina’s unheralded Guido Pella created the shock of the opening round at the RIo Open on Monday after felling fourth seeded American John Isner
Argentina’s unheralded Guido Pella created the shock of the opening round at the RIo Open on Monday after felling fourth seeded American John Isner.
In his Rio Open debut, World No.71-ranked Pella squeezed through the first set winning it on a tiebreak and then had a match point with Isner serving at 4-5 in the second.
But Isner kept his cool to level the game at one set apiece and send the tie into a decider.
Isner recovered from a second match point late in the third which eventually went to a match-deciding tiebreak.
In the breaker Isner had three match point opportunities of his own only to be denied by Pella who went on to seal a shock victory on his match point No. 3.
He now faces a second-round showdown with Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo.