Isner Rolls Into Winston-Salem Quarters; Querrey Upends Second Seeded Anderson

August 21, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Top-seeded John Isner faced no trouble in his third-round bout with Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, disposing of the 13th seed 6-1, 7-6(3) in 68 minutes to push into the Winston-Salem Open quarterfinals.

A two-time champion at this tournament, Isner has never lost on the Winston-Salem courts. He ripped 17 aces past Kukushkin, and broke serve twice in the opening set which took just 18 minutes.

The second set was a bit tougher, as the 6’10 American struggled a little to finish off games. He did serve 12 aces in the second frame, but needed a tiebreaker to help move into the final eight.

“It could’ve gone a lot quicker,” said Isner. “I made it tough on myself, which I’m not too pleased about because of how I was serving. Still, I played well at the end of the match and I’m off in straight sets again, which is nice.”

Isner’s serve was the difference as he did face a single break point chance in the 68-minute affair. The Greensboro, North Carolina native will look to build on his 12-0 record at Winston-Salem when he faces seventh-seeded Lukas Rosol for a spot in the semifinals.

American Sam Querrey pulled off the upset of the day in North Carolina, taking down second-seeded South African Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals.

He utilized an effective first serve which allowed him to pick up points on 86 percent of his first serves which included nine aces.

“I played great out there,” said Querrey, who is now 7-4 all-time against Anderson. “That was the best I’ve played all summer. I was aggressive the whole time and returned well. I thought everything went pretty well.”

Querrey, ranked 56th in the world rankings, will now play fifth-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for a spot in the semifinals. Garcia-Lopez knocked off American Donald Young in a hard-fought three-set match earlier in the day.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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