John Isner suffers first round defeat at Rio Open

Fourth seed John Isner crashed out of the Rio Open after letting three match points slip away in his opening round defeat by Guido Pella.

The American fell in the first round at Buenos Aires last week and suffered another early exit after losing to Pella 7-6 5-7 7-6.

Pella failed to take any of his four break-point opportunities against the big-serving Isner, but stubbornly protected his own service games as he fended off 10 of 11 break points.

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The Argentine also had chances to close out the match before the deciding tie-break, spurning a match point at 5-4 in the second set and another while leading 5-4 in the third.

Isner then had three chances to seal victory in the tie-breaker, but Pella stood firm and moved to 9-8 before securing a second round match with either Santiago Giraldo or Gastao Elias. 

"I had a lot of chances and I did not play the right way," Isner said. "I had high expectations for this trip. I hope to come back and play better."

Watch live action from the Rio Open on Tuesday night, starting at 7pm on Sky Sports 1.