
Steve Johnson is chasing a second career ATP title after winning in Nottingham last year (Zimbio.com)
Seventh seed Steve Johnson took a big step towards a potential second career title by defeating compatriot John Isner 63 57 76 in the Auckland quarter-finals.
Johnson was in imperious form in the first set, breaking the 6’10 Isner once from four opportunities before closing the door in the set, dropping just two points on his first serve, and five overall in the set for the lead.
Johnson again put pressure on the Isner serve in the second set, though there was a steel in the Isner serve, hitting aces on break points to frustrate Johnson. Meanwhile, Isner was finally gaining some traction in his return games, winning more than half the points against the Johnson serve. Isner was rewarded by stealing the set, breaking in the final game when a tie-break loomed to level affairs.
Johnson’s superb serving of the first set returned in the decider though, dropping just three points, and earning four break points. Time and again Isner’s serve got him out of trouble as the top-ranked American fought to the tie-break. Despite Isner’s strong record in tie-breaks it was Johnson, the stronger player overall who was rewarded winning seven-three.
“Last year I was here and my attitude wasn’t the best, but you live and you learn, you come back and I’m glad I turned it around this year.” – Johnson reflecting his form in Auckland this year versus this time last year.
The win sees Johnson pull with one of Isner in the head-to-head, with Isner’s lead trimmed to four-three, and Johnson has now won their last two meetings after also winning in Washington in 2016.
His opponent in the bottom half of the draw will be Jack Sock, the fourth seed, after he finally got past the veteran Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 57 64 63. Chardy gave a lesson in clutch tennis play in the first set, incredibly saving eleven break points before stealing the only break of the set late on with his only break point.
Sock’s frustration would finally be alleviated in the second, breaking once from six opportunities and saving the single break point on offer in the set.
Chardy’s resolve appeared broken when Sock finally found some consistency in breaking, taking five of the first six games in the decider. Chardy managed to retrieve one of the breaks, but last year’s finalist Sock closed out the win.
The top half of the draw saw the higher ranked players in the two match-ups progress with relative ease.
Eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis took full advantage of the withdrawal of top seed and defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut, beating Jiri Vesely 62 64. The former Australian Open finalist broke twice in the first set and once in the second for a comfortable win that saw Vesely fail to muster even a single break point opportunity.
Joao Sousa ensured that Robin Haase failed to back-up his excellent win over David Ferrer in the second round, comprehensively defeating the Dutchman 63 62 in just under an hour.
Semi-finals: Jack Sock will face Steve Johnson as the favourite. Sock leads the head-to-head two-one and is the higher ranked and seeded player. However, Johnson’s progress so far has been smoother this week, and he won the most recent match between the two, two years ago in Washington DC. My pick – Sock in three sets
Marcos Baghdatis will be the favourite as the seeded player against Joao Sousa, though there are just eight ranking places between the two. It will be the first tour meeting between the two. My pick – Baghdatis in straight sets.