John Isner fired 24 aces against compatriot Denis Kudla to seal a 7-6(2), 7-6 (4), win in the second round of the U.S Men’s Clay Court Tennis Championships.
The top seed faced no break points throughout the encounter against a strong challenge from Kudla. Like Isner, the 23-year-old also produced a barrage of aces with nine being his tally. Despite the closeness between the two men, it was the more experience Isner, who was the dominant force in both of the critical tiebreakers as he edged his way to the last eight.
The service performance from Isner impressed many, however, the world No.15 is still unhappy with his current level of play. Recently the world No.15 ended his coaching partnership with Justin Gimelstob on mutual grounds.
“A lot of times, I do serve well,” Isner said following his win.
The Isner serve appeared to be more crucial for the American than his previous matches this year. Speaking to local media, the 30-year-old admitted that he was struggling with his confidence ahead of his first match in Houston.
“Without a lot of confidence,” The world No.15 said about his approach to the match.
“I’m not going to sugar-coat it. It was a struggle out there at times. There were a lot of things I did not do so well. Look, this match could have gone either way. I thought Denis played well. He’s packing a big punch on his serve, too.”
Leading up this week’s tournament in Houston, Isner endured a mixed experience at the two American Masters tournaments. In Indian Wells he reached the third round (losing to Kei Nishikori) followed by a disappointing second round loss to Tim Smyczek in Miami.
In the quarterfinals Isner will play rising-star Hyeon Chung. The South Korean came from a set down to defeat Tommy Paul 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, to book his place in the last eight. The 19-year-old had a quartet of chances to take the first set 6-4, but failed to capitalize as he dropped the opening set to the 2015 French Open Boys’ champion. It is the first time that Chung has reached the quarterfinals of an ATP 250 tournament since the Shenzhen Open last October.
One of the biggest dangers to Isner’s chances of getting a second title in Houston has been eliminated. French second seed Benoit Paire struggled with the conditions as he succumbed 6-3, 7-5, to Argentina’s Juan Monaco. The world No.22 only managed to get 35% of his first serves in, winning 68% of them.
After missing six months of the tour between 2015-2016 due to a wrist injury, Monaco will play in his first ATP quarterfinal since last May’s Nice Open. Awaiting him in the last eight will be fifth seed Sam Querrey. Querrey, who is a two-time finalist at the event, produced a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3, win over Germany’s Benjamin Becker after just 50 minutes of play.
Defending champion, Jack Sock, will begin his campaign on Thursday against Australia’s Matthew Barton.
