DALLAS, Feb 10: John Isner beat Kevin Anderson to advance to the quarterfinals of his hometown Dallas Open, outlasting the South African in their first meeting since a marathon in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018.
All three sets went to tiebreakers, with Isner holding on, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5). Anderson was the one who survived the second-longest match in Wimbledon’s 134-year history — six hours and 36 minutes — for a spot in that final. Anderson went on to lose to Novak Djokovic.
The third-seeded Isner, who lives about a mile from the SMU tennis facility where the inaugural Dallas event is being held, is seeking his 17th ATP Tour title and is now 9-4 all-time against Anderson.
Isner won 89 percent of his first-serve points, and the players combined for 56 aces. The former Georgia player will meet the winner between Vasek Posposil and Jurji Rodionov.
Australian Jordan Thompson beat eighth-seeded Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 7-6 (1) to advance to the quarterfinals. Thompson is joined by seventh-seeded Marcos Giron, who rallied to beat qualifier Liam Broady, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Fifth seed Adrian Mannarino beat Steve Johnson 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (2) for just his second head-to-head win against the American and first since 2014. Mannarino will meet Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in the round of 16.
Top-seeded Taylor Fritz, ranked a career-high No. 19 after reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, had his opening match against fellow American Jack Sock on Wednesday night. (AP)
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