Sock, Isner off to strong starts in Beijing

The two Americans in the China Open draw boast a combined 3-0 record heading into the continuation of second-round action on Thursday. Jack Sock is already through to the quarterfinals thanks to dominant victories over Teymuraz Gabashvili and Andreas Haider-Maurer.

Sock defeated Gabashvili 6-4, 6-3 in his opener before hammering Haider-Maurer 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. The 23-year-old has been broken only once this week and he did not face a single break point against Haider-Maurer.

Next up for Sock is none other than 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

They will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season when they battle for a spot in the semifinals on Friday. Their only previous encounter came at the French Open, where Nadal advanced to the last eight with a 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory.

The eighth-ranked Spaniard is coming off a win over Sock’s doubles partner, Vasek Pospisil, in the Beijing second round. Nadal ousted the Canadian 7-6(3), 6-4 after beating Di Wu 6-4, 6-4 in his opener.
Sock 2
John Isner will look to join Sock in the quarters when he takes the court on Thursday. Isner’s 2015 campaign has been getting progressively better from start to finish following a rough first few months. The 6’10” American improved to 38-20 for the season by defeating Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-1 on Tuesday.

Up next for the No. 6 seed is a first-ever meeting with John Millman. The 76th-ranked Australian has inflated his ranking by spending almost all of his time on the Challenger circuit, but he owns four of his six career ATP-level match victories this year. Millman advanced one round last month in Shenzhen (albeit via a retirement from Ernests Gulbis) and he kicked off this week with a stellar 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 upset of Tommy Robredo.

At the Japan Open, meanwhile, fellow Americans Sam Querrey and Donald Young bowed out on Wednesday. Both had rough draws, with Querrey losing to No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets and Young coming out on the wrong end of a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 decision against sixth-seeded Marin Cilic.

“He was playing really well,” Cilic said of Young after surviving in two hours and 39 minutes.

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