John Isner and Tommy Haas take similar routine paths to the Delray Beach quarterfinals on Thursday. Ernests Gulbis, however, does it the hard way with a wild win over Sam Querrey.
(Q) Ernests Gulbis d. (3) Sam Querrey 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4)
Gulbis won a somewhat bizarre, back-and-forth thriller against Querrey in the second round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Thursday afternoon. The first two sets were entirely straightforward, with a single break deciding each one. Gulbis fought off one break point with an ace at 4-4 in the opener before Querrey cracked under pressure at 4-5 with a shanked forehand on his opponent’s set point. The 23rd-ranked American reversed momentum by breaking right away in the second and he maintained his lead from start to finish.
For a while it looked like Querrey’s surge would see him through to the finish line. This week’s No. 3 seed raced to a 4-0 advantage in the third only to implode out of nowhere. He dropped serve at 4-1 and again while serving for the match at 5-4, this time with a double-fault on break point. That energized a previously dispirited Gulbis, who had broken a racket and incurred a point penalty for swearing earlier in the set. The 109th-ranked Latvian never trailed in the ensuing tiebreaker. Although he gave back a mini-break at 5-3, Querrey capitulated with two straight double-faults to end it after two hours and 14 minutes. Next up for Gulbis is fellow qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava.
(1) John Isner d. Go Soeda 7-6(2), 6-2
Isner delivered what was arguably his best performance of an otherwise dreadful season by defeating Soeda in one hour and 15 minutes on Thursday night. The top-seeded American, who recorded 28 aces in a round-one win over Jesse Levine, struck 15 aces and saved both of the break points he faced to hold all 10 of his service games.
Soeda stayed competitive for a while, but it went downhill for Japan’s No. 2 player when Isner struck a backhand pass for a mini-break at 1-1 in the first-set tiebreaker. The world No. 15 raced through it seven points to two then raised his level to break twice in the second. Isner served out the proceedings at love at 5-2, clinching his first match point when Soeda sent a forehand long. Friday’s marquee quarterfinal will pit Isner against fellow big man and familiar foe Kevin Anderson.
(2) Tommy Haas d. Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-1
Haas pulled away from Istomin in one hour and seven minutes during second-round action on Thursday. The No. 2 seed appeared to have the upper hand right away, but he missed four break chances in his opening return game and two more in his second effort against the Istomin serve. While his opponent struggled to hold, the 34-year-old German cruised through his first-set service games without facing a break point. Inevitably, Haas finally got over the hump at 5-4 and he did so at love. He raced to a 0-40 advantage and won the set when Istomin sent a forehand just past the baseline.
From there it was all over for Istomin, who held for 1-1 in the second but then lost the last five games. The 42nd-ranked Uzbek won just a single first-serve return point in set two, the same number as he had earned in the first. Haas closed out the proceedings with a love hold at 5-1, finishing the job with a perfect backhand approach shot. The world No. 19 awaits Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals.
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