A breeze for Isner, Monfils
AMERICAN top seed John Isner and French second seed Gael Monfils, both struggling to overcome setbacks, cruised into the third round of the ATP and WTA Washington Open with straight-set victories on Wednesday.
Isner, coming off heartbreaking Wimbledon and Davis Cup defeats, fired 14 aces and dropped only three points on his first serve in a 6-3, 6-4 romp over Australian qualifier James Duckworth.
“I’m happy I got through my first match. I can get tripped up in those,” Isner said. “I’m not looking past anyone.”
Flamboyant Monfils, who had lost three matches in a row after suffering a mystery illness, fired 10 aces and lost only two points on his first serves in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun.
“I played a very solid match,” Monfils said. “I was surprised I could play that good so soon and I want to keep it going for the next few matches.”
Next for Monfils is Croatian 16th seed Borna Coric, who downed Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 6-4, 6-4, while Isner will meet Cypriot 15th seed Marcos Baghdatis, who ousted Australian John Millman 6-2, 6-4, for a quarter-final berth.
Isner and Monfils, who had firstround byes, have split eight career meetings and could play a third time
RELIEF: Top two seeds advance as they attempt to overcome setbacks
at Washington in Sunday’s final.
Isner won a 2007 semi-final while Monfils won a 2011 semi-final rematch, both going to a third-set tiebreaker.
“I look forward to playing Johnny,” Monfils said. “Every time I come here I play him.”
Neither has ever won the Washington hardcourt crown. Monfils, ranked 17th, lost to Czech Radek Stepanek in the 2011 final. Isner, ranked 16th, lost the 2007 final to Andy Roddick in his breakthrough event, the 2013 final to Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro and last year’s final to Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who is not defending the title.
Isner lost a third-round Wimbledon match to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after taking the first two sets only to drop the fifth set 19-17.
Then he learned France’s Richard Gasquet retired after six games against Tsonga in the round of 16 — a second career Grand Slam quarterfinal having been so close had he advanced.
“It was a very excruciating match for me and even tougher when I landed and found out Gasquet only lasted (six) games. It was a tough pill to swallow.”
Adding to his pain was a Davis Cup home loss to Croatia last weekend after the US team took a 2-0 lead.
Since losing to Rafael Nadal in April’s Monte Carlo final, Monfils had withdrawn from Munich with a groin strain, the French Open and
in action against Halle with a severe illness, but he blitzed Lu in 62 minutes.
“It has been a tough month for sure,” said Monfils. “I don’t know how I got this thing. They cannot put a name to it. I feel much better. I feel my ability is back.”
Monfils seeks his sixth career ATP title, his first since Montpellier in 2014, his first outdoors since 2005 in Sopot and his first ever outside Europe.
Isner, 31, seeks his 11th career ATP crown and first since last year at Atlanta. He has won at least one title for six years in a row.
German 19-year-old seventh seed Alexander Zverev advanced by beating US 18-year-old Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2. Zverev is the youngest to crack the world top 30 since Nadal in 2005.
“To be 27th in the world right now is very nice,” Zverev said. “I’m happy with the way I’m playing. It’s a great start to the hardcourts for me.
“The goal is to try and get better and physically stronger, try to compete with the top guys. My goal is to get up there at some point but right now I’m still far from that.”
Zverev made his first two ATP finals at Nice in May and Halle in June, boosting his confidence to improve on a last-eight run in Washington last year. AFP