John Isner has crashed out of the New York Open after falling 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 6-3, to world No.63 Jordan Thompson on Thursday.
Isner went down in defeat the same way second-seeded Milos Raonic did one night earlier: in a three-setter with only break of serve in the entire match. After splitting two tiebreak sets with Thompson, Isner dropped his serve to open the third. Jordan hit a return right at John’s feet on break point, with the second-tallest American unable to handle the volley.
”I’m pretty stoked about that. That was a tough match,” said Thompson. “I didn’t get too many looks at Isner’s serve, but managed to get the one break and held onto it.”
The United States’ tallest tennis player is now the lone American remaining in the singles draw. Earlier in the day, Reilly Opelka successfully began his title defense against Yoshihito Nishioka with a 6-4, 6-4, victory. This matchup featured the biggest height discrepancy amongst any ATP top 100 players, with 41 centimeters (16 inches) separating them. Opelka started the match rushing the net on almost every service point, a strategy which almost cost him his serve to start the match due to some subpar approaches and volleys. Reilly would decrease his net approaches as the match progressed, choosing his spots more wisely. Both players saved break points in a set that seemed destined for a tiebreak, but Opelka broke at love in the tenth game courtesy of several Nishioka groundstroke errors.
History would repeat itself in the second set, with no breaks until the tenth game, when four Nishioka errors on neutral rally balls gifted Opelka the set and the match. Reilly struck 20 aces in 10 service games to earn his first win of the season. After the match, the defending champion said the difference in the match was the scoreboard pressure his service holds applied to Nishioka at the end of sets.
“I thought I was pretty clean, pretty committed to playing the same style the whole match,” he said after the match. “I handled adversity well, came up with some big shots on break points.”
Opelka will face qualifier Jason Jung in Friday’s quarterfinals. The 30-year-old represents Taipei, but was born and resides in the US. He obviously feels at home at this tournament, as it’s the only ATP-level event where he has any match wins over the last two seasons. Also a quarterfinalist here a year ago, Jung upset 2018 champion Kevin Anderson on Tuesday, and has now upset seventh seed Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4. The Brit double faulted at inopportune times in both sets to donate his serve to Jung, who was also the steadier player as rallies lengthened.
Another Brit faired better on Thursday, as Kyle Edmund dismissed Dominik Koepfer in straight sets. Edmund’s powerful forehand proved too much for the recently-turned-pro lefty, who six months ago reached the fourth round as a qualifier at the US Open. Kyle summed up the match succinctly: “My aggressive tennis paid off in the end.”
All singles quarterfinals will be played on Friday, with only four of the eight seeds advancing this far. Four of the remaining players have never won an ATP title, making the next three days a good opportunity for fresh faces to emerge.
