WASHINGTON — "Marathon Man" John Isner remains mentally worn down after a record-shattering 11-hour Wimbledon triumph but he had enough to beat the man who ousted him in June at the ATP Washington Classic.
The fifth-seeded American fired 15 aces to defeat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (10/8) and reach the third round at the 1.4 million-dollar hardcourt tournament but brushed aside the idea of a revenge-minded victory.
"It wasn't like a revenge factor at all," Isner said. "I didn't think about that at all. I treated it like any other match."
Isner's epic three-day opening-round Wimbledon victory over France's Nicolas Mahut - which featured a 70-68 fifth set that alone was longer than any prior match - was followed by a loss to de Bakker in which Isner won only five games.
But the Wimbledon aftermath for Isner has become a fatiguing series of questions and jokes as the 25-year-old American with one of the most powerful serves in tennis tries to make his name for something more than longevity.
"I'm trying to (put it behind me), but I'm feeling it," a weary Isner said. "Mentally I'm a bit worn out answering questions about it, hearing jokes every single day.
"But I can't escape it."
Isner, who will meet Belgian Xavier Malisse on Thursday for a quarter-final spot, said he has exchanged e-mails with Mahut since their historic match but has not followed his results.
Isner, who won his first ATP title in January at Auckland, improved to an ATP-best 25-14 in tie-breakers this year thanks to the Dutchman's double fault to end the first set and the last of Isner's 15 aces on his third match point.
"It wasn't pretty," Isner said. "Not much was working right."
US second seed Andy Roddick cruised into the third round, the three-time Washington champion beating Slovenian qualifier Grega Zemlja 6-4, 6-4 in 84 minutes by winning the only two break points of the match.
"I accomplished what I wanted to... get back to playing clean tennis, things that don't show up in the stat sheet but that win matches," Roddick said. "I can improve a little but I got what I wanted out of the match.
"It was a good opportunity to find some rhythm, get my feet under me, get into the tournament and the summer. When I move the ball well and get my teeth into points, that's a solid match."
Spanish third seed Fernando Verdasco saved two match points in the ninth game of the second set and rallied to defeat Germany's Michael Berrer 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6).
The 10th-ranked Spaniard, who won at San Jose and Barcelona earlier this year, nearly lost for the fourth time in five matches since reaching the round of 16 at the French Open before battling back.
"I was just trying to play my best to the end," Verdasco said. "Even match points down I was just trying to put the ball in and make him put the ball in.
"I got a little lucky."
Verdasco, who next plays US qualifier Ryan Sweeting, escaped match points on errant Berrer backhands and broke in the ninth and 11th games to launch his comeback.
"When I broke back, I started to get confidence and started playing much better," Verdasco said. "Those games were the turning point of the match."
Czech top seed Tomas Berdych, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, opens after a bye with a Wednesday match against Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
Mardy Fish stretched his career-best win streak to 11 matches by beating Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-3. The American won Newport and Atlanta crowns in July and has jumped from 79th to 35th in the rankings since dropping 33 pounds.
"I'm now able to train and do things I couldn't in the past," Fish said. "I'm able to get to shots I used to not get to. I feel like a completely different player, a completely different person."
Serbian Janko Tipsarevic defeated France's Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-0, to book a second-round match against US sixth seed Sam Querrey, who beat Tipsarevic in a Los Angeles semi-final last week on the way to his fourth title of the year.
Juan Martín del Potro (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwan marˈtin del ˈpotɾo]; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine professional tennis player who is the current highest-ranked Argentine and the 10th ranked player in the world. Del Potro achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4. 
Victoria Azarenka (Viktoryya Azaranka) of Belarus on Sunday won her first tournament this year by beating former world number one Maria Sharapova in the final of the Stanford Classic in the United States, BelaPAN reports.
