Isner Wins Monte Carlo Opener
American John Isner got off to a winning start at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters on Monday afternoon, defeating fellow American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 to move on in Monaco.
Coming off a disappointing early-round exit in Houston, Isner made quick work of his compatriot, dispatching him in 70 minutes.
“I don’t mind playing on clay,” said Isner. “I’ve had some good results on it before. It does some things for my game that I think maybe people don’t realize … I’m glad I made the trip over here, now that I’ve won. If I had lost, probably not. This is beautiful, so I’m happy.”
The 15th seeded Isner broke three times in six tired during the two sets and was just absolutely dominant on serve, losing just eight points overall on serve and firing 13 aces.
Isner moves on to the second-round where he will battle the winner of the match between Viktor Troicki and Martin Klizan.
The other-seeded player to advance on Monday was 12th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut, who had no problem dispatching Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-0.
Bautista-Agut needed just 52 minutes to move into the second-round. He broke the German six times, three in each set, to cruise to the straight-set victory. He draws a matchup with another German, Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next round.
Ernests Gulbis’ rough start to 2015 continued with a 1-6, 0-6 defeat at the hands of Andreas Haider-Maurer.
“I was in a great state of mind this week practicing,” said Gulbis. “Everything was really good, except the match. This one last hour was bad in Monte Carlo. All the rest of the week was really unbelievable. It was just this one hour.
The Latvian has won just one match so far in 2015. Haider-Maurer will move on and play Australian Bernard Tomic in the next round.
Other winners on Monday included Italian Fabio Fognini, who ousted Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-1, and David Goffin, who took care of Norbert Gombos, 6-1, 6-4.
