Isner Knocks Off Anderson to Move On in Cincinnati
American John Isner rolled into the second round of the Western and Southern Open on Monday, taking down South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4 to move on in Cincinnati.
It was a good bounce back match for Isner who had lost his opening match in the last two tournaments since winning the Atlanta Open title. Isner was able to pick up a break point in each of the two sets while using his dominant serve to tame the 6’8’’ Anderson.
“If you look at our past matches, there haven’t been many breaks of serve, there hasn’t been anything that’s really separated us, but tonight was a little bit different and I played well,” said Isner. “I’m just happy to move on.”
The match was just the second in their 10 career meetings in which there was not one tiebreaker. The 6’10’’ American is now 7-3 all-time against Anderson who currently sits at No. 17 in the world rankings.
Isner reached the final of this tournament last year before losing to Rafael Nadal, and will look to make another long run in Cincinnati as he moves on to play qualifier Marinko Matosevic. The Australian knocked off France’s Nicolas Mahut on Monday.
The 11th-seeded Isner was the only American on the men’s draw to move on Monday as Jack Sock fell to 16th-seeded Tommy Robredo in straight sets while Chase Buchanan blew a one set lead in a hard-fought three-set bout with Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Steve Johnson and Robby Ginepri will take to the court Tuesday for their respective first-round matches as the action from Cincinnati continues. While the first-round is wrapping up today, there is two second-round matches on the slate today. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will meet France’s Gilles Simon while third-seeded Stan Wawrinka battles Benjamin Becker of Germany.
