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.
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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