UNIONDALE, N.Y.—The task of winning a match against John Isner, for a serve-heavy player like Bernard Tomic, comes down to two factors: 1) Not blinking on your own serve and 2) pulling through in the tiebreaks.

Tomic, in the second round of the New York Open on Wednesday, came ever so close to succeeding on each of those fronts, but ultimately failed on both—falling 7-6 (7), 6-4, though it felt much closer. Such are the slim margins at play when facing the game's best server.

"Nothing separated us, especially in that first set," Isner said.

Lleyton Hewitt, when asked if he'd be watching Tomic play Isner on Wednesday, said, "I may keep an eye out because Jordan Thompson plays the winner."

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Tomic's serve finally failed him in the tiebreaker when, down 7-8, he spun an 82-mph softball into the middle of box, ripe for Isner to rip a hard forehand return. It would come back too hot for Tomic to handle, giving the American the opening set.

Set 2 looked to be heading toward a tiebreak as well, but Tomic again had a lapse at the worst possible moment, this time serving from behind, 4 games to 5.

"All of a sudden, I was up 0-40," Isner said. "He made two errors that he hadn't really made the whole match, and I hit a great return."

But, in a last-ditch effort, Tomic saved all three match points, largely on the back of his serve, with the added help of an Isner mishit.

"The 30-40 one, I'd like to have that back," Isner said, "Because I was in the point and I had a mid-court forehand, and it hit the cheap seats."

The final blow took a while for Isner to land, but three more match points, two deft Isner volleys and one netted Tomic forehand later, the world No. 9 sealed the second set, 6-4.

The win is Isner's first of 2019, snapping a six-match losing streak dating back to the Paris Masters. In the quarterfinals, he'll take on Australia's Jordan Thompson.

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Isner scores first 
win of 2019 over
Tomic in New York

Isner scores first win of 2019 over Tomic in New York

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