Houston 2022: John Isner vs Frances Tiafoe preview, head-to-head & prediction | U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships
Match details
Fixture: (4) John Isner vs (6) Frances Tiafoe.
Date: 8 April 2022.
Tournament: U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships 2022.
Round: Quarterfinal.
Venue: Houston, Texas, USA.
Category: ATP 250.
Surface: Clay.
Prize money: $665,330.
Match timing: Not before 6 pm local time, 12 am BST, 4:30 am IST.
Live telecast: USA - ESPN 3 | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
John Isner vs Frances Tiafoe preview
Compatriots John Isner and Frances Tiafoe will face off in the quarterfinals of the 2022 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships on Friday.
Isner's results in singles matches this year have been underwhelming, but he has excelled on the doubles court, winning the Sunshine Double.
In Houston, he received a bye into the second round where he took on fellow American Steve Johnson. The fourth seed played a poor tie-break to lose the opening set.
Isner saved a match point in the second set and took it to a tie-break, which he won. The American secured a break of serve towards the end of the deciding set and served out the match to make a winning start to his clay season.
aces later, @JohnIsner saves a match point to defeat Johnson 6-7(1) 7-6(4) 6-3 in a battle of Houston champions.A new tournament ace record 💪
3️⃣8️⃣ aces later, @JohnIsner saves a match point to defeat Johnson 6-7(1) 7-6(4) 6-3 in a battle of Houston champions.
#USClay https://t.co/ON2ENpqn7d
Frances Tiafoe, meanwhile, kicked off his campaign in Houston with a straightforward 6-4, 6-4 win over Marcos Giron in the first round. However, he was tested thoroughly in the second round by Pablo Cuevas. The American needed to stage a huge comeback after dropping the opening set.
Tiafoe started the match on a strong note, breaking his opponent's serve in the very first game. He maintained his advantage until 5-4, when he served for the opening set. However, Cuevas raised his level to even the score at 5-5 and won the next two games to clinch the first set.
A clay-court masterpiece in Houston 👏
@FTiafoe outlasts Cuevas in a 5-7 7-5 7-6(4) thriller!
#USClay https://t.co/jLSoPdypUY
The second set played out in an identical manner. Tiafoe once again broke his opponent's serve in the first game of the set. He served for the set at 5-4, but was broken. This time around, the American fought back and secured another break to take a 6-5 lead, before serving out the set.
Both players held serve throughout the deciding set, but Tiafoe was slightly better in the ensuing tie-break and eventually won the match.
John Isner vs Frances Tiafoe head-to-head
Isner leads Tiafoe 2-0 in the head-to-head. Their previous encounter took place almost five years ago at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters, which Isner won in straight sets.
John Isner vs Frances Tiafoe prediction
As is usually the case with Isner, serve will be the key. He hit 38 aces and won 87% of his first-serve points against Johnson, so it's safe to say his serve is working rather well.
Tiafoe is a capable server himself, but his focus will be on countering Isner's booming delivery. Moving Isner around the court to take advantage of his less-than-stellar movement should do the trick.
What Tiafoe cannot afford is any serious mental lapses on his part. In his second-round match, he was broken twice while serving for the set. In his first meeting with Isner at the 2016 US Open, he blew a two-set lead to lose the match in five sets.
Isner is the more steady player of the two and the veteran is likely to make it through to the semifinals.
Prediction: John Isner to win in three sets.
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