NEW YORK: Philipp Kholschreiber beat John Isner 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) yesterday to end US interest in the men’s draw at the US Open.
It’s the third straight year that Kohlschreiber has eliminated Isner at the same stage at Flushing Meadows, a coincidence that Isner called “a very weird situation”.
“I never expected I could see him again this year in that round,” said Isner, who was grasping for an explanation after losing a match in which he fired 42 aces and didn’t drop his serve once.
“You tell me going into the match I’m not going to lose my serve, you’d think I’d win the match,” Isner said.
Isner, the 13th seed and the highest-ranked American man at 15, and Sam Querrey were the only US men to make it to the third round.
Only three American men, from 12 home-grown contenders, had made it to the second round, the fewest in US Open history.
Tim Smyczek was beaten in the round of 64 by Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, and before Isner took the court, top-seeded Novak Djokovic easily neutralized Querrey’s big serve to dispatch the 57th-ranked American 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Isner, however, was in no mood to parse the state of American men’s tennis.
“It’s disappointing for me personally, not for America as a whole,” he said. “It’s disappointing to go out in the third round three years in a row to the same guy.
“America as a whole, that’s not for me to worry about.”
Plenty of hand-wringing will ensue however, with Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open triumph marking the last time an American man hoisted a Grand Slam trophy.
Bouchard passes third-round test
NEW YORK: Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard turned back the challenge of determined Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova to reach the fourth round of the US Open yesterday. The 20-year-old seventh seed from Canada overcame 39 unforced errors on a windy Arthur Ashe Stadium court to beat Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 6-7 (2/7) 6-4 and book a last-16 clash with Russian 17th seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
“I did way more unforced errors than I expected myself to. So that definitely didn’t help my case in the second set,” said Bouchard, who said she let the frustration get to her.
“To just give away so many free points is really frustrating to me. So I was definitely disappointed with that. I realised in the third I can still stay with her, I don’t have to go for crazy shots all the time. I think I was a bit too impatient, basically, in the second set.”
The hard-fought victory keeps alive Bouchard’s hopes of going deep in a fourth Grand Slam this year. She reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in a scintillating debut Down Under, and also made the final four at Roland Garros before her run to the final at Wimbledon.
Tipped as the game’s next big star, with potential to rival Maria Sharapova and Li Na as a sponsors’ darling, Bouchard has struggled since a crushing loss to Petra Kvitova in the final at the All England Club, and had won just one match in three tournaments coming into the US Open.
Now, however, she starting to feel at home on the massive and loud Ashe court, where she has won back-to-back night matches.
“The screaming, the chants, it’s amazing. It’s so motivating,” she said. “I wish I could play on a court like this every day.”
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