Hyeon Chung beat Joao Sousa 6-4 6-3 in 68 minutes to reach his sixth quarter final this season and his second in a row at Masters 1000 level. He will face John Isner, who beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-0) 6-3.
Chung has won 18 matches this year. Only Juan Martin Del Potro has won more matches than the 2017 ATP Next Gen Finals champion in 2018 with 19.
The 21-year-old South Korean player has lost just seven points on serve.
Chung has lost just three points on serve and converted on his only break point in the seventh game at love to close out the opening set 6-4 after 35 minutes. Chung converted on his third break point at deuce in the first game. After saving a break point in the eighth game Chung sealed the second set with a double break at 30.
Before this year’s Indian Wells and Miami tournaments Chung had reached just one Round of 16 at Masters 1000 level, but he has now qualified for the quarter finals in two consecutive events at this level.
Chung will face US John Isner, who did not face a break point, won 73 percent of his first serve points and fired 12 aces in his 7-6 (7-0) 6-3 win against this year’s Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic in 87 minutes. Isner clinched his third win in hi sten head-to-head matches against Cilic.
The first set went on serve with no break points until the tie-break where Isner cruised through to a 7-0 win. Cilic saved a break point and held his serve at deuce in the fourth game of the second set for 2-2. Isner converted his first break point in the eighth game to open up a 5-3 lead and served out for the match at love in the next game.
“I certainly served better today. I was up against the number three player in the world, so I am extreamely happy with I played today. I am extremely happy with how calm and collected I was on the court because the conditions were tough. It’s easy to get frustrated out there and at times there was some pretty ugly tennis but I kept holding onto my serve and never panicked at any point in that match. I played my best match that I have played all year because it’s a pretty poor year until this point. Chung is playing some of the best tennis in the world hands down. He is an incredible player. I am going to have my hands full”, said Isner.
Isner leads 2-1 in his three head-to-head matches against Chung.
