SA tennis ace Kevin Anderson loses epic match to John Isner in Dallas

In a battle of giants - Isner is 2.08m compared to Anderson's 2.03m - the American prevailed 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/5) to reach the quarter-finals.

Isner, the tournament's third seed, squandered two match points in the second set tie-break but remained his composure to edge the third.

This is how to save a match point ??@KAndersonATP saves two of them against Isner to level the score at 6-7(1) 7-6(7).#DALOpen pic.twitter.com/kXfAmgDXxp

Anderson, a former world No 5 who is down at 101 in the ATP Tour rankings, beat America's Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.

"It was a good atmosphere for sure and very happy to win that match, especially when I truthfully kind of choked in the second set. Just great to win and I knew it was going to be a coin flip match," Isner told the ATP Tour. "I told my friends, 'This is a coin flip, this is what it is.' I haven't played much, he had a match under his belt. It just was going to be tough the whole way, so hopefully I can build on this."

Isner, who lives within walking distance of the venue, hit 30 aces, won 89 percent of his first-serve points and did not face a break point in the match.

Isner now leads 9-4 in head-to-head meetings with Anderson.

This was the first time the duo played since their epic 2018 Wimbledon semi-final which Anderson won 26-24 in the final set.

Isner doing Isner things in his backyard ??Dallas native @JohnIsner picks up an epic 7-6(1) 6-7(7) 7-6(5) win over Anderson in their first match since 2018 Wimbledon.#DALOpen pic.twitter.com/U6UGO7vrhz

Meanwhile in Rotterdam, South Africa's Lloyd Harris continued to struggle in 2022 as he was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Bulgarian Ilya Ivashka in the first round.

It's a been a tough start to the year for world No 35 Harris, who