DONALD YOUNG JR. LOSES A REALLY CLOSE THREE SETTER TO MARIN CILIC, PLUS ALL THE LATEST TENNIS NEWS AND UPDATES

Written by: Staff on 7th October 2015

DONALD YOUNG JR. LOSES A REALLY CLOSE THREE SETTER TO MARIN CILIC, PLUS ALL THE LATEST TENNIS NEWS AND UPDATES

epa04920879 Marin Cilic of Croatia serves to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their quarterfinals match on the ninth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 08 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

Americans find the winning formula in Beijing but not Tokyo

By Ricky Dimon

The two Americans in the China Open draw boast a combined 3-0 record heading into the continuation of second-round action on Thursday. Jack Sock is already through to the quarterfinals thanks to dominant victories over Teymuraz Gabashvili and Andreas Haider-Maurer.

Sock defeated Gabashvili 6-4, 6-3 in his opener before hammering Haider-Maurer 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. The 23-year-old has been broken only once this week and he did not face a single break point against Haider-Maurer.

Next up for Sock is none other than 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

They will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season when they battle for a spot in the semifinals on Friday. Their only previous encounter came at the French Open, where Nadal advanced to the last eight with a 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory.

The eighth-ranked Spaniard is coming off a win over Sock’s doubles partner, Vasek Pospisil, in the Beijing second round. Nadal ousted the Canadian 7-6(3), 6-4 after beating Di Wu 6-4, 6-4 in his opener.

This hard-court surface obviously gives Sock a much better chance than clay. Perhaps even more importantly, the 23-year-old is quite simply in stellar form as he nears the end of what has been an outstanding season. Ranked 30th in the world, Sock is 27-13 for his 2015 campaign. Sock is more dangerous than Pospisil, for example, because his serve and forehand are slightly bigger and will not give Nadal a target at the net. The underdog will be content to outhit the favorite from the baseline, and that is something he can do right now with Nadal in mediocre form.

John Isner will look to join Sock in the quarters when he takes the court on Thursday. Isner’s 2015 campaign has been getting progressively better from start to finish following a rough first few months. The 6’10” American improved to 38-20 for the season by defeating Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-1 on Tuesday.

Up next for the No. 6 seed is a first-ever meeting with John Millman. The 76th-ranked Australian has inflated his ranking by spending almost all of his time on the Challenger circuit, but he owns four of his six career ATP-level match victories this year. Millman advanced one round last month in Shenzhen (albeit via a retirement from Ernests Gulbis) and he kicked off this week with a stellar 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 upset of Tommy Robredo.

At the Japan Open, meanwhile, fellow Americans Sam Querrey and Donald Young bowed out on Wednesday. Both had rough draws, with Querrey losing to No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets and Young coming out on the wrong end of a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 thriller against sixth-seeded Marin Cilic.

“He was playing really well,” Cilic said of Young after surviving in two hours and 39 minutes.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Beijing, China Open, Donald Young jr, Japan Open tennis, Marin Cilic, Ricky Dimon, Tennis News, Tokyo

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10sBalls_com says:

October 7, 2015 at 2:39 pm

DONALD YOUNG JR. LOSES A REALLY CLOSE THREE SETTER TO MARIN CILIC, PLUS ALL THE LATEST #TENNIS NEWS AND UPDATES- http://t.co/1uLnHhSSpB
Dimonator says:

October 7, 2015 at 6:20 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: DONALD YOUNG JR. LOSES A REALLY CLOSE THREE SETTER TO MARIN CILIC, PLUS ALL THE LATEST #TENNIS NEWS AND UPDATES- http://t…