Three of the Top 4 Americans in the ATP Rankings experienced mixed fortunes on Tuesday at Roland Garros. John Isner and Steve Johnson reached the second round, but Jack Sock wasn’t as fortunate. Isner was made to work hard in beating fellow American Noah Rubin in straight sets in a two-day encounter. Ninth seed Isner led 6-3, 7-6(7), having saved two set points at 5/6 and 6/7 in the second set tie-break, when rained suspended play on Monday night. But upon the resumption of play on Tuesday, World No. 173 Rubin fought just as hard. Rubin saved a total of four match points at 4-5 (three) and 5-6 (one) in the third set, before missing out on a set point...
#NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz picked up his second win of the season against compatriot Jack Sock, No. 15 in the ATP Rankings, to reach the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon quarter-finals on Wednesday. Fritz hit eight aces and swept the third-seeded Sock 7-6(6), 6-2 in 92 minutes. The 20-year-old Fritz also beat Sock at the clay-court Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship last month en route to his second ATP World Tour semi-final. Fritz is in fourth place in the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. The eighth player will be determined by an all-Italian qualifying tournament. Fritz will look to reach...
Miami Open presented by Itaú champion John Isner advanced to the Mutua Madrid Open third round on Wednesday, defeating fellow American Ryan Harrison 7-6(1), 7-6(7). Isner, at a career-high No. 9 ATP Ranking, hit 22 aces in the one-hour, 31-minute encounter en route to victory. Isner improves to 7-3 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Harrison, levelling their 2018 series at 1-1 after Harrison’s success in Acapulco three months ago. In a match which featured no break points, Isner was given a tough test by Harrison as he secured his 10th victory in Madrid. The 33-year-old dominated the opening-set decider, firing his 11th ace of the match to clinch a one-set advantage. The second tie-break proved far more competitive,...
Tennis might not involve team play, but the sport does have its perks and its own unique feeling as Grigor Dimitrov, Novak Djokovic, John Isner and Rafael Nadal detail.
