Veteran John Isner will take on newcomer Sebastian Korda for the second time in his career in an all-American quarterfinal at the Delray Beach Open on Monday.
(2) John Isner vs. Sebastian Korda
Sebastian Korda’s first ATP tour-level tournament was last fall in Cincinnati. His ATP record coming into this week was 3-3 (the ATP doesn’t count qualifying matches). Surprisingly, one of those six matches was against Monday opponent John Isner–which Korda won in four at last year’s French Open. Thus the youngster holds a 1-0 head-to-head over his far more experienced countryman.
Of course, that was on clay–where Isner’s serve is neutralized. Monday’s match will be on Isner’s preferred hard-court surface. He’ll be looking to rebound after a disappointing 2020 season that saw him finish with a 10-10 record and no titles.
Korda is likely to find Isner’s serve much more difficult to handle on Monday. Although the 20-year-old looked sharp in his second-round win over fellow American Tommy Paul on Saturday, the prospect of Isner’s ace machine will likely prove too much to handle.
Cheryl pick: Isner in 3
Ricky pick: Isner in 3
I think I read somewhere that the match on clay was Isner’s first in 2 years. That also could have been a factor. I like Korda, but a bigger fan of Isner.
Not so. Theirs was a second round match. Isner beat Elliot Benchetrit in the first round.
Benchetrit is a bye
The ATP website has the win going to Isner with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
WWW?