Top seed John Isner eased through his Delray Beach opener, but second and third seeds Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki exited Tuesday after losing their matches in three sets. World number 11 Isner needed a 32-point second set tie-break to oust American wild card Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-6 (17/15) at the $442,500 Delray Beach International Championships.
Jurgen Melzer, who won the Memphis Open title last week, was also eliminated in his opening match Tuesday. It was the first Delray Beach match win for Isner who lost in the first round of the hardcourt tournament to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his only other appearance last year.
Cilic lost to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. He was competing in his first event of the season after being sidelined with a left knee injury for two months. Troicki lost his serve seven times en route to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Belgian Steve Darcis. American qualifier Tim Smyczek ousted Melzer 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 as he broke the Austrian's serve five times.