American Taylor Dent reached his first quarter-final in half a decade Wednesday, staging a comeback to upset fourth seed Horacio Zeballos 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.
"This is a big deal, I've strung two really good wins together," said the winner. "But I don't want to celebrate.
"My sights are set pretty high. I don't know if my goals are attainable. I'm happy with this result but I want to move forward, keep improving and advancing."
Dent, 29, who is 94th-ranked in the world, is slowly rebuilding his career after back surgery several seasons ago.
His progress so far is his best since coming back to tennis in late 2008.
He advanced past a second round for the first time this season.
Dent, winner of four titles, survived nine double-faults in his victory lasting just over 90 minutes against Argentina's Zeballos, a semi-finalist in
Houston this season. The South American had won their previous meeting at that event in April when Dent retired with hip pain.
Dent called his rally "a complete role reversal." |
