Andreas Seppi was upset on Tuesday night in the second round of the Winston-Salem Open, leaving Spaniard Tommy Robredo as the only survivor among the top four seeds at the tournament.
Second-seeded Seppi was beaten by American qualifier Steve Johnson 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5.
The tournament lost two of its top three seeds on Monday when no. 1 Tomas Berdych and no. 3 John Isner, the two-time defending champion, withdrew with injuries.
Fourth-seeded Robredo beat France’s Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 to advance.
Eighth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina defeated France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 in the hard-court tune-up for next week’s US Open.
Mardy Fish retired in the third set of his match with no. 11-seeded Jarkko Nieminen, who was leading 7-5, 6-7 (3), 3-2 when his American rival quit due to heat stroke.
In other second-round matches, fifth-seeded Benoit Paire of France beat American James Blake 7-6 (9), 2-6, 6-3; seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco beat American Tim Symczek 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and ninth seed Jurgen Melzer beat Thiemo de Bakker 7-5, 6-7 (4), 4-2.