Isner, Muller Start Strong In Cincinnati

Fourteenth seed John Isner won 91 per cent of his first-serve points (42/46) to win his opener at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati 7-6(3), 6-4 against Serbian Viktor Troicki on Sunday.

The American hit 20 aces and saved both break points to improve to 3-4 against Troicki in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Isner, who is 9-1 in his past 10 matches, has won two titles in the past month: the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport and the BB&T Atlanta Open.

He reached the Cincinnati final in 2013, beating Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro before falling to Rafael Nadal in the final. Isner will next meet a compatriot, either #NextGenATP Tommy Paul or Donald Young.

Gilles Muller, also a two-time titlist this season, leaned on his serve to get through a tight first-round contest against Ryan Harrison of the U.S. Muller struck 21 aces in a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) win that took two hours and four minutes.

Muller, the 16^th seed, is making only his second appearance in Cincinnati. He fell in the first round in 2015 to Benoit Paire. The Luxembourg left-hander will next play Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain or Russian Mikhail Youzhny.