John Isner has continued America’s strong run in Houston with a straightforward triumph in the second round on Thursday.
The top seed required 66 minutes to defeat Swiss world No.143 Henri Laaksonen 6-4, 6-2, to extend his unbeaten streak on the tour to eight matches. During what was a dominant serving performance, Isner dropped just two points behind his first serve as he hit a total of 13 aces.
“I look forward to this event every single year,” said Isner, who is making his 11th straight appearance in the tournament. “The people are so nice. Center Court is so quaint and has such great history. The matches are fun, but off the court, everyone is in such a good mood here.”
Houston is where Isner won his first and so far only ATP title on the clay back in 2013. Bidding for a second this week, he will take on defending champion Steve Johnson next. The sixth seed eased his way past Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, to reach his second tour quarterfinal of the season after Delray Beach.
“Today (Thursday) was one of the first days where I really felt good,” Johnson told Tennis Channel after the match. “I felt that I had a rhythm. I had some aces, a lot of serves that were unreturnable. It let me really focus on my return games.”
Isner has a 4-4 head-to-head record against Johnson, but lost both of their meetings last year in Auckland and Acapulco.
Jack Sock is aiming to get back on track this week after what has been a poor start to 2018. He got his Houston campaign off to a winning start by dismissing Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 6-4. Claiming 88% of the points behind his first serve.
“He was coming up with some amazing shots, some amazing serves on the break points,” said Sock. “But I felt like I was playing well, kept playing my style, aggressive, looking for forehands, obviously, and it was paying off.”
Despite being ranked 16th in the world, the 25-year-old is yet to win back-to-back matches in a tournament this season. His win over Zeballos was only his fourth this year. In the next round he will take on Taylor Fritz, who endured a roller coaster encounter with Ryan Harrison. Prevailing 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, after 93 minutes of play.
In total five American players have reached the quarter-final stage. As a result, there will be at least one home player in the Houston final for the fourth consecutive year.
