Berdych close – Vinci wins at US Open tune-up events

HEAD racquet rebel Tomas Berdych put John Isner under supreme stress, coming within a point of victory on three separate occasions in the tense, third-set tiebreaker before just missing his winning chance in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) final at the Winston Salem Open.

Second seed Berdych, who came into the title match with a victory in Montpellier and a final at the Madrid ATP Masters 1000 event in 2012, had lost only one set all week prior to facing Isner. The seventh-ranked Czech swung his YouTek IG Instinct MP with precision as he saved three match points late in the thriller.

Wild card entry Berdych will head to New York and the US Open hoping to reach the quarter-finals of the major for the first time in his career. "I hope it's going to be enough time to put this match from my mind and keep all those matches before - and those before were pretty good," said the player who will start against Belgian David Goffin in the Open first round. "I won a couple of matches, which was the goal when I came here. I made it pretty successful.”

Roberta Vinci beat Serbian former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-3 to win the WTA Texas Tennis Open in Dallas. It was the seventh trophy for the Italian winner and her first of 2012. Her last came in 2011 in Budapest on clay.

Vinci, playing with a YouTek IG Extreme Pro, stands 7-1 in career finals. She won without the loss of a set. "We played a really good final. I was up a set and 3-0 and had a lot of chances to keep going, but she came back to 3-all," said the winner. “Jelena is such a good player so at the beginning of the match I was a little bit nervous. But I just tried to stay relaxed and keep going for my shots and although we were both very tired, I made it. It was a tough week, a tough draw, a tough final - I'm so happy I won!"