Isner Ousts Rubin; Nadal Powers Into French Open Second Round
In an all-American showdown, John Isner defeated Long Island native Noah Rubin 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(7) in a match that was resumed on Tuesday after a rain delay Monday night.
Rubin, who was making his debut in the main draw of the French Open, had his opportunities in the tiebreakers, but came up just short against the No. 9 seed Isner.
“His serve is something else, even his second serves jump up,” said Rubin, who faced 28 aces from the big-serving Isner. “It’s something I thought I did pretty well with in the third set. I gave myself the opportunities, I just couldn’t capitalize on them.”
Rubin said he had received so much support from friends, family and fans back here in New York that were rooting for him, something that he does not take for granted.
“I’ve had incredible support, whether it’s on Instagram, texts, e-mails, whatever it was,” said Rubin. “They always root for me; staying up at all hours or waking up early to watch me at whatever tournament I’m playing at. They’re always with me and I’m so thankful to have them, and hopefully they’ll be there every step of the way.”
Isner advances to take on Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos in the second round.
Rafael Nadal advanced to the French Open second round on Tuesday, defeating Italy’s Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(9) in a match that was resumed from Monday.
The 10-time Roland Garros champion overcame a late surge from Bolelli, who saved four set points in the third-set tiebreaker.
“He was a very aggressive player, and he was playing very strong. I didn’t know that he was going to play so aggressively,” said Nadal. “I understood that I really had to attack, and I had to have the proper mindset, be positive, and accept how things were unfolding, and he was playing very well.”
“He played well, playing with lots of risk but having success with all the risks that he took,” Nadal added. “For me, it was difficult to 100 percent find the rhythm, because I didn’t have so many points that I could take the advantage and hit three, four balls with the right position.”
Despite Bolelli’s aggressive play, Nadal still advanced in straight sets in what was the 80th match win at the French Open for the Spaniard.
Nadal moves on to play Argentina’s Guido Pella in an all-lefty matchup. Pella knocked off Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Other notable winners on the men’s side on Tuesday included No. 3 seed Marin Cilic, No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro, No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson, No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov and American Steve Johnson.
No. 14 seed Jack Sock was upset in five sets as Estonia’s Jurgen Zopp came back to win 6-7(4), 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.
