John Isner advances to quarter-finals of Atlanta Open
The American beat Czech tennis player Radek Stepanek 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7), reports ABC News. This was the first match at the event for 30-year-old Isner, a two-time champion of the Open.
Isner, top-seeded at the event, has been in the finals of the Atlanta Open 4 of the last 5 years. This marks the first time in 6 of Isner’s Atlanta Open appearances that he was not taken to 3 sets by his opponent. He admitted he was ‘nervous’ against his 36-year-old Czech opponent, who has 20 years of experience at the sport, and that the home advantage went a long way in helping his game.
Stepanek broke Isner in the 2nd set, leading it 3-2 and then winning on his own serve to extend that lead to 4-2. Isner later held serve, however, to make his way back into the contest as he made an unlikely save off a deep ball, surprising his opponent.
Isner’s compatriot Jack Sock, seeded third at the Open, suffered a surprise loss to qualifier Dennis Kudla of Ukraine 7-6 (6), 6-3. Sock, currently at a singles ranking of 35, found himself quickly tired by weather and humidity, losing the momentum he had amassed in the first set.
22-year-old Kudla is currently 94th in the WTA rankings, and the youngster managed to reach till the round of 16 at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Unlike Sock, Kudla had to play his way through the qualifying rounds at the Open, and the Ukrainian credits this with giving him the rhythm he needed going into his match against the American.
Isner now progresses to the quarterfinals of the Atlanta Open, where he will face Ricardis Berankis of Lithuania. The two have faced off once before, at the 2013 ATP Houston draw, with the American winning that match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.