Sam Querrey of the U.S. had not won a clay-court match this year before Monday. The American had gone 0-3 before heading to Roland Garros. But apparently he just needed to play in Paris.
The 12th seed avoided a winless European clay-court swing by beating #NextGenATP compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(6). Querrey hit 11 aces and controlled play with his big serve to beat the 20-year-old Tiafoe for the second time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (Shanghai 2017).
Tiafoe had reached his second ATP World Tour final at the Millennium Estoril Open earlier this month (l. to Sousa). Querrey will try to match his best Paris showing (3R, 2013) when he meets Frenchman Gilles Simon, who saved four of five break points to beat Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-4.
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Simon fell in the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon final to Dominic Thiem on Saturday. “I arrived in great shape. I had recovered well. I will have to continue in two days. So you have to find the right mix between continuing to practise properly, staying in shape, recovering well,” Simon said. “Mentally I feel very good, because it's always good to win a match.”
Ninth seed John Isner was leading 6-3, 7-6(7) against American wild card Noah Rubin when rain suspended play for the day. Isner will try to match his best Roland Garros result this year by making the fourth round (2014, 2016). The No. 10 player in the ATP Rankings is one of only two Americans (Jack Sock, 2015) to reach the fourth round since Robby Ginepri in 2010.
The winner of Isner-Rubin will meet Argentine Horacio Zeballos or Japan's Yuichi Sugita. Their match was also suspended, with Zeballos leading 6-4, 6-6(0/2).
Did You Know?
Querrey avoided his ninth first-round exit at Roland Garros by beating Tiafoe. The American lost in the first round in 2007-2010, '12, '15-'17.