Top seed slumps out of Classic
The ASB Classic lost its first and third seeds yesterday as the shock results kept coming.
Less than 24 hours after Kiwi Rubin Statham knocked out world No 25 Chung Hyeon, John Isner and Marco Cecchinato were sent packing.
On Centre Court Isner, the No 10 in the world lost 7-6 7-6 to American compatriot Taylor Fritz, who is ranked at 50.
On the Grandstand Court, Cecchinato, from Italy, went down 6-3 6-3 to Tennys Sandgren, from America.
There won’t be many tears shed about Cecchinato’s early exit as despite being ranked 18 in the world, he’s a clay court specialist and wasn’t expected to go deep in Auckland.
The loss of Isner is a surprise though, as he had his best year as a professional in 2018 and this is one of his favourite tournaments.
However, Fritz, 21, won a few more crucial points than Isner, so moves onto the quarterfinals where he will meet Cameron Norrie, after the Auckland-raised Briton continued his impressive form with a 7-6 6-4 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Fritz had the best record on tour last year with tiebreaks, winning
20 off 28 and it’s a talent he has to be able to thrive in pressure situations.
"One of the strongest parts of my game is how I handle the pressure and play under it," Fritz said afterwards. ‘‘More often than not, when I lose a match it’s because I don’t play the big points well, the pressure points.
‘‘But I’d say that’s what’s made the difference in tiebreakers for me, being able to play well in those pressure situations."
It’s the second year in a row Isner has lost his first match at the Classic, failing to add to his two previous titles in Auckland.
Norrie, meanwhile, advanced after saving five break points in the first set against Sousa before surging clear in the tiebreak.
The 23-year-old then secured the decisive break in the third game of the second set and never looked back, sealing victory in a little over 90 minutes.
In the late match, New Zealand’s Rubin Statham was no match for Germany’s JanLennard Struff, going down in straight sets, 6-2 6-1.
In the doubles, Kiwi Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof beat Philipp Oswald and Tim Puetz 6-4 7-6.