Isner Serves Notice

No. 10 seed John Isner is into the third round of the Australian Open for the second straight year and the fifth time overall thanks to a 6-3, 7-6(6), 7-6(2) dispatch of Spain’s Marcel Granollers.

He will next face the winner of the Feliciano Lopez vs. Guido Pella match-up.  

In Thursday’s opening match on Hisense Arena, Isner, one of eight Americans to have reached the second round, struck first with a service break in the eighth game, and subsequently consolidated for the 33-minute opening set.

Granollers, No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, raced ahead 4-1 in the second-set tie-break, but Isner would reel off seven of the next nine points for a two-set lead.

It was all Isner in the third-set tie-break, and the American would amass 53 winners, including 20 aces, while winning 82 per cent of his first-serve points  (59 of 72). He hasn’t faced a break point in two matches in Melbourne, having struck 37 aces in his first-round win over Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz.

Granollers has won just one of his past 19 matches against Top-20 opposition at the majors, his lone win coming against Robin Soderling at the Australian Open in 2010. He was bidding to reach the third round in Melbourne for the first time.

The 30-year-old Isner finished 2015 at No. 11 — his highest year-end ranking and the sixth consecutive season he has finished inside the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. His best Australian Open performance was reaching the round of 16 in 2010 (l. to Andy Murray).

There were no gifts for birthday boy Nicolas Mahut from fellow Frenchman and No. 23 seed Gael Monfils in Margaret Court Arena, where Monfils rolled to an efficient 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 win in just one hour and 39 minutes.

Monfils, into the third round in Melbourne for the eighth time, registered 50 winners, including 18 aces, in defeating his compatriot, who turned 34 on Thursday. Mahut was hoping to equal his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the third round.

Also advancing was No. 32 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal, a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo.