Second seed John Isner is through to the quarter finals of the Delray Beach Open after beating the Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 7-6(4).
A bit of history as these two players actually met around the same time of the year last year in the opening round of the Australian Open, that match was won by the American in four tight sets all of them being decided by a tiebreaker 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6.
The first couple games of the opening set were pretty routine and even if Isner had only played five matches last year thanks in large part to the pandemic he looked good in his service games.
The American got the first break point of the match at 1-2 with the Brazilian serving but he was up to the task saving it with a big serve of his own. The two players were doing a good job of holding serve and another break opportunity didn’t occur until 4-5 when once again Monteiro was serving to stay in the first set.
Isner would set up the first one with a stunning cross court forehand winner but the Brazilian would save it on the next point as the Dallas, Texas resident would send a ball long.
The world number 25 would get a second chance and he would make good on it playing a long rally and finishing the point with a blistering forehand down the line to win the first set 6-4.
The second set was pretty much like the first with both players holding serve and not giving an inch on their service games. Once again Isner had the first break opportunity of the set but was once again saved with a big serve from Monteiro.
The second frame would end up being decided by a tiebreaker and that’s where the American was looking to close out the match. At 2-3 Isner would get the crucial break when Monteiro would send a return into the net.
From there it was smooth sailing for the American and on his second match point at 6-4 he would seal the win with a great rally and finishing the point with a volley winner at the net.
After the match, Isner spoke about how thrilled he was to finally be playing in front of fans.
“It was a great atmosphere, all of us players appreciate you fans coming out, it means a lot to us, not many athletes have played in front of many fans so we come out here play in front of an intimate setting, a loud crowd, we really do appreciate it and I’m happy to be back here and hopefully to see you guys in a few days”.
He also spoke about what it took to take to get the win today.
“I think he’s a fantastic player, he plays aggresively obviosuly playing a lefty isn’t easy either, he makes a lot of first serves and plays attacking tennis and when he does that he makes it hard for me so i expected a very tough match and that’s exactly what it was, I was a little fortunate there in the end to come out with the win”
Isner will next face a fellow American in Sebastien Korda in the quarter finals on Monday, Korda upset Isner at the French Open last May.
There were three other matches played on Saturday, Gianluca Mager continued his run by upsetting Sam Querrey 7-6, 6-1, Mager was down 5-2 in the first set but rallied back to take it 7-6 and dominated from there to book his spot in the quarter finals.
Another upset was Christian Harrison sending the number one seed Christian Garin packing in straight sets 7-6, 6-2. Korda set up his match with Isner by beating another American Tommy Paul in three sets 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2.
