Isner Wins Thriller Against Thompson In Montreal

John Isner put a halt to his troubled early tie-break record during the US Open series during a tense three-set win over Jordan Thompson in the first round of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal.

The 12th seed, who had lost three of his four tie-breaks in Atlanta and Washington, defeated Thompson 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6), closing out the match with his 26th ace. The 6′ 10″ American next plays Chilean Cristian Garin.

Marin Cilic survived 19 aces from American Bradley Klahn to reach the second round with a 6-3, 7-6(7) win in one hour, 38 minutes. The 14th seed, who did not face a break point, will next play Australian lucky loser John Millman, who rallied from a break down in the third set to defeat Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-3 after two hours and 33 minutes.

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“Bradley was serving really big. I wasn’t expecting him to hold his serve like that,” Cilic said. “He kept the pressure on and it was only decided in a second-set tie-break, so it could have gone his way. I’m glad I played well in crucial moments.” 

British qualifier Daniel Evans came up clutch against recent Atlanta champion Alex de Minaur in a 6-4, 7-6(6) first-round win, saving seven of eight break points faced and converting both break chances on the Australian’s serve. Evans will next confront top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal. 

There were mixed results for last week’s Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex finalists. Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who won the ATP 250 tennis tournament, fought past Italian Marco Cecchinato 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 after two hours and 35 minutes. Meanwhile, runner-up Taylor Fritz fell to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 7-5.

Schwartzman will look to extend his winning streak when he faces 10th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. Hurkacz, 22, will attempt to record his third win over a Top 10 opponent in ATP Masters 1000 action this season (Nishikori in Indian Wells, Thiem in Miami) when he meets 2018 finalist and fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-0.