WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy was ousted from the Winston-Salem Open Tuesday in three sets by U.S. qualifier Steve Johnson.
Johnson, 23, won 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the third round of the final hard court tune-up for the looming U.S. Open where he will face Yen-Hsu Lu of Taiwan.
The rest of the seeded competitors on Tuesday's card also moved on.
Fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain eliminated Guillaume Rufin of France 7-6 (7-5) 4-6, 6-3. No. 5 seed Benoit Paire of France ousted American James Blake 7-6 (11-9), 2-6, 6-3.
Seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco moved on as did No. 8 Juan Monaco of Argentina and ninth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
Wild card Mardy Fish of the United States was forced to withdraw due to heat stroke near the end of a hard-fought three-set match against No. 11 seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.
