Newport R2 previews and predictions: Isner vs. Groth, Karlovic vs. Kudla

Three of the game’s biggest servers will be on display in Newport on Tuesday, when top two seeds John Isner and Ivo Karlovic will kick off their campaigns. Isner is facing Sam Groth, while Ivo Karlovic is going up against Denis Kudla.

(1) John Isner vs. (3) Sam Groth

Isner and Groth will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the first time in an ATP tournament when they clash in round two of the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open on Wednesday. Both of their previous encounters have come during Davis Cup action in Australia, where Isner prevailed on both occasions–via a 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 decision on grass in 2016 before getting the job done 7-6(5), 6-3 in a dead rubber on a hard court earlier this season.

Groth has mostly disappeared from the main tour in 2017 at No. 201 in the world. Prior to his arrival in Newport, he had not won an ATP-level match since picking up a victory in the first week of the year over Pierre Hugues-Herbert in Brisbane. Out of just about nowhere, Groth qualified for this main draw and overcame Austin Krajicek 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-3 on Tuesday. Whereas the Aussie has three matches under his belt already, Isner is just now getting things started as the No. 1 seed. The 6’10” American is coming off a mostly disappointing tour of Europe, losing five of his last nine matches after making a run to the Rome semifinals. Isner, though, is 15-5 lifetime in Newport with two titles.

Pick: Isner in 2

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Denis Kudla vs. (2) Ivo Karlovic

This marks the fourth career contest between Karlovic and Kudla, and the second in Newport. At this event in 2011, Kudla pulled off a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 upset. The 24-year-old American now leads the head-to-head series 2-1, with a 6-2, 6-3 loss on the indoor hard courts of Moscow in 2013 and a 6-7(7), 7-6(5), 7-6(4) victory last spring on the red clay of Madrid.

Karlovic sports an almost identical record to that of Isner at this tournament (14-5) and he is the defending champion, having outlasted Gilles Muller 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) in last year’s final. The 25th-ranked Croat lost to Muller in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch title match last month and then dropped his openers in Halle and at Wimbledon. Kudla’s grass-court season has been a disaster, with an 0-3 record in Challengers (including one qualifying loss) and failed qualification attempts at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon. The world No. 178, however, managed to scrape past countryman Mitchell Krueger 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 on Monday. A steep step up in competition should result in the continuation of Kudla’s woes.

Pick: Karlovic in 3

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