Still, showing the sort of progress that has lifted his ranking to a career-high 25th, Johnson played quality first-strike tennis to end qualifier Ryan Harrison’s season-best run by winning the all-American matchup, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals.
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Isner unleashed a 29-ace barrage at Johnson but failed to capitalize on five set points in the first set and seven in the second.
“I’m happy I got through my first match. As hard as it is to swallow, it s a positive for me to play the right way and keep the pressure on him”.
Washington-US top seed John Isner and French second seed Gael Monfils cruised into the third round of the ATP and WTA Washington Open on Wednesday but former world number one Caroline Wozniacki dropped out due to injury while leading. “I’m glad I got through it”. “This tournament is very special to me”, said Isner.
Isner fired 14 aces and won 92 percent of the points on his first serve to move past Duckworth in just over an hour. But Johnson did save all six break chances Isner accumulated and wound up with 22 aces himself. This will be the third year in a row that Americans Johnson and Isner meet in Washington; Johnson won in 2014, and Isner did in 2015, both decided by a third-set tiebreaker.
Johnson, ranked a career-high 25th, next faces another serve smasher in 37-year-old Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who blasted 26 aces to dispatch USA sixth seed Jack Sock 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6).
Karlovic hit 26 aces, saved all four break points he faced and reached the semifinals in Washington for the first time since 2007.
Gerald Melzer plays the fourth-seeded Paolo Lorenzi of Italy for a place in Saturday’s final.
In a battle of two of the game’s future stars, seventh-seed Alexander Zverev showed that he was a little further along than American Taylor Fritz, advancing to the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
In women’s action, third-seeded Monica Puig lost to Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-2, while fourth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic beat 2013 Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-3. But Karlovic erased that with what else? He won when Sock’s forehand clipped the net tape and sailed wide.
“I feel like I scrap pretty well and get a lot of returns back and I still can’t break the guy”, Sock said.
“I just treat it like any time of the year whether players aren’t here or aren’t at next week’s event”.
The 37-year-old Karlovic, a 6-foot-11 Croatian, is coming off a title on grass at Newport, Rhode Island, last week. “It’s a tough tournament to win”.
“I will take it and try to run with it as far as I can”, said Stosur, who is to face USA wild-card Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals.
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Then he cracked a big smile, rocked back in his chair and said, “No, no, I’m joking”.
