Guido Pella fought off three match points and 31 aces in his upset of John Isner Monday afternoon.
The unseeded Argentinian is through to the second round in his debut in Rio after fighting past 4th seed John Isner 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(8).
Pella had a chance to close it out in the second set when Isner was serving at 4-5, but couldn't get a racquet on the American's kicking second serve. Isner rode that momentum to win the next three games to force a decider.
Isner would find himself in the same situation having to stave off 2 more match points at 4-5 in the third.
Both players served out love service games to force a final set tie-break
Isner Fails To Close Out The Match
Both players maintained their high level of play until the bitter end with no breaks being exchanged until 9-8 in the breaker when Pella closed it out. Isner had three chances to close it out at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 but was unable to convert.
The match was determined by a difference of two points. Isner 133 to Pella's 135.
Pella only won 17 percent of first serve return points, and went 0 for 4 on break point chances, but fought hard on his own service games to not let Isner run away with the match. Isner produced 11 opportunities to break the Argentine, but only managed to convert one of them.
Isner's Struggles on the South American Clay
“I had a lot of chances and I did not play the right way," Isner remarked on his own performance.
The American has now lost in the opening round in both South American events he entered this year. Dusan Lajovic also upset Isner in his first round at Buenos Aires last week. Isner decided to play in South America on the clay this year to try and improve his game rather than playing on the hard courts. The American number one was a regular at the Memphis Open and at Delray Beach before deciding to go play on the Golden Swing this year.
For Pella, the win marks the Argentine's first victory over a top 20 player. After rallying from a two set deficit to win the first round at the Australian Open, Pella went on a three match losing streak coming into Rio.
Pella moves on to face the winner of Santiago Giraldo and qualifier Gastao Elias on Wednesday.