Houston Tennis • Results • Scores •Schedule • John Isner Hits 10,000 Aces!

Mirnyi/Oswald best the six-time champion Bryan Brothers 6-4 2-6 10-6 to reach the #USClay doubles final. – Photo by @mensclaycourt via Twitter.

 

Three Americans in Saturday’s Semifinals at River Oaks

Doubles Title to be Decided Saturday

 

 

RESULTS

Friday, April 13, 2018

[6] Steve Johnson (USA) d [1] John Isner (USA) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(5)

Taylor Fritz (USA) d [3] Jack Sock (USA) 6-3 3-6 6-4

Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) d [4] Nick Kyrgios (Australia) 3-6 6-2 6-3

[8] Tennys Sandgren (USA) d Guido Pella (Argentina) 4-6 7-5 6-3

 

Doubles Semifinal Round

Max Mirnyi (Belarus) & Philipp Oswald (Austria) d [1] Bob Bryan (USA) & Mike Bryan (USA) 6-4 2-6 10-6

Andre Begemann (Germany) & Antonio Sancic (Croatia) d [WC] Dustin Brown (Germany) & Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6-3 3-6 10-7

 

ORDER OF PLAY – Saturday, April 14, 2018

Center Court – 1 pm Start

Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) vs [8] Tennys Sandgren (USA)

[6] Steve Johnson (USA) vs Taylor Fritz (USA)

Doubles Championship

Max Mirnyi (Belarus) & Philipp Oswald (Austria) vs Andre Begemann (Germany) & Antonio Sancic (Croatia)

 

Singles Main Draw

Doubles Draw

Qualifying Draw

 

• TIDBITS •

– Friday was the first time in the Open Era that all four US Clay singles quarterfinal matches have gone three sets.

– Three Americans have reached the US Clay semifinals for the second year in a row and the third time since the tournament moved to Houston in 2001.

– At 39-years-old Ivo Karlovic is the oldest US Clay semifinalist in the Open Era. He’s the oldest semifinalist at an ATP event since 40-year-old Jimmy Connors at San Francisco in 1993. He is bidding to be the oldest ATP finalist since 43-year-old Ken Rosewall won in Hong Kong in 1977.

– Karlovic won the US Clay title in 2007, the final year the event was held at Westside Tennis Club. He is bidding to return to this final for the first time since. It would be the longest gap between US Clay finals appearances since the 15 years between Andre Agassi’s championship efforts in 1988 and 2003.

– Taylor Fritz, 20, is the youngest US Clay semifinalist since Ernesto Escobedo reached the final four as a 20-year-old last year. He is bidding to be the youngest to reach the US Clay final since 20-year-old Andy Roddick fell to Andre Agassi in the 2003 final.

– Defending champion Steve Johnson is bidding to be the first player to reach consecutive US Clay finals since Jack Sock in 2015-16. He’s attempting to be the first player to repeat as US Clay champion since Andy Roddick in 2001-02.

– The winner of the Johnson-Fritz match will be the first player to reach the US Clay final having played four Americans en route since Jaime Yzaga beat five straight Americans to win the title in 1991 when the tournament was held in Charlotte.

– With his 19th ace of Friday’s match, John Isner became the fourth player in ATP history to hit 10,000 aces in his career. Isner’s milestone ace came on a 138 MPH serve down the “T” on the first point of the 1-2 game in the third set. The ball from that point was immediately taken out of play and will be sent to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. Isner joins Ivo Karlovic (12,622 through the quarterfinals here this week), Roger Federer (10,463) and Goran Ivanisevic (10,131) in the 10,000 ace club. With 28 aces Friday, Isner now has 10,009 in his career overall and 392 aces in 25 career matches at River Oaks.

– Andre Begemann and Antonio Sancic have reached their first ATP doubles final together. Begemann will be seeking his fifth career title while playing in his 10th final while Sancic will be contesting his third career ATP final with hopes of winning his first title.

••• Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald are through to their third final of 2018 and fourth final together overall, in which they have won a pair of titles. Mirnyi owns 51 career titles from 96 finals while Oswald is seeking his eighth title while playing his 12th final!

 

Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club

River Oaks Country Club is hosting a professional tennis tournament for the 84th time when the 2018 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship is held April 7-15. River Oaks first hosted its own tournament, The River Oaks International, in 1931, and its roster of former champions includes Jack Kramer, Tony Trabert, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Guillermo Vilas and James Blake. Houston is the 21st city to host the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. The tournament came to Houston in 2001, and has been hosted at River Oaks since 2008. Started in 1910 by the USTA, the 2018 tournament will be the 108th competition for the Clay Court Championship. The 2017 singles title was won by American Steve Johnson while the doubles champions were Chile’s Julio Peralta and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos. The tournament beneficiary are the National Junior Tennis & Learning programs of the Houston Tennis Association. More information about the tournament can be found at www.mensclaycourt.com.