UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Top-seeded John Isner was a little off his tennis game and got upset in the second round of the New York Open, losing to Jordan Thompson 7-6 (2), 6-7 (3), 6-3 on Thursday night in two hours and 31 minutes.
“I’m pretty stoked about that. That was a tough match,” Thompson said.
“I didn’t get too many looks at Isner’s serve, but managed to get the one break and held onto it.”
The victory was first over Isner – reversed last year’s straight-sets defeat at last year’s New York Open and was his first win over a No.1 seed since he defeated Andy Murray at Queen’s in 2017.
Isner had a first-round bye, was playing his first match since having to retire from his third-round match at the Australian Open against Stan Wawrinka because of a foot injury.
The hard-serving American was broken early in the third set and unable to do much from there against Thompson, an Australian whom Isner had defeated in all three previous meetings. That included in last year’s quarterfinals, the only time in three appearances in the tournament on Long Island that Isner won a match.
With No. 2 seed Milos Raonic losing a night earlier, defending champion Reilly Opelka is the highest-seeded player left in the tournament. The third-seeded American earned his first win of the season Thursday, beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4.
Opelka, who had a first-round bye, broke Nishioka’s serve in the final game of each set to earn his quarterfinal spot. He had dropped both matches on tour this season, blowing a two-set lead against Fabio Fognini in the Australian Open.
No. 8 seed Kyle Edmund also reached the quarterfinals by sweeping past Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 6-4. He will meet Soonwoo Kwon, who eliminated Raonic.
In the other quarterfinals at Nassau Coliseum, No. 4 seed Ugo Humbert will play sixth-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic, and Thompson meets Andreas Seppi.
