Isner Powers Into Last Eight at Wimbledon

July 9, 2018 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Isner (6)

 

American John Isner reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time as he defeated 31st seed Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6(8), 7-6(4) in a fourth round showdown at the All-England Club on Monday.

“I’m very happy to be in the quarterfinals of a Slam. Not just Wimbledon,” said the ninth-seeded Isner. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam.”

Isner saved the only break point he faced and fired 22 aces to power his way into the quarterfinals, where he will faced 13th seed Milos Raonic of Canada.

It will be the second straight match for Raonic against an American after he ended the run of Mackenzie McDonald on Monday. Raonic won 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.

The top two seeds looked to be in cruise control as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal made their way into the quarterfinals with their respective victories on Monday.

Federer took out 22nd seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 while Nadal defeated Jiri Veseley 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

In the quarterfinals, Federer will meet eighth-seed Kevin Anderson. The New York Open champion and last year’s U.S. Open runner-up outlasted Gael Monfils 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 5-7, 7-6(4).

Nadal takes on the winner of Juan Martin del Potro and Gilles Simon, who had their match suspended with del Potro leading two sets to one.

Kei Nishikori had to dig deep to defeat upstart Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(10), 6-1. The key moment came when Gulbis led 10-9 in the third-set tiebreak, and Nishikori rallied to win the final three points and took over in the final set.

“[In the] second and third [sets], I tried to stay positive, even though I was struggling with my return game, and he was playing good today,” said Nishikori. “I just tried to stay calm and fight every game.”

Nishikori is now the first player from Japan to reach the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slams. He takes on 12th seed Novak Djokovic next. The three-time Wimbledon champion rolled past Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

 


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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