Isner, Nishikori Headed Toward Final Meeting at Citi Open
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John Isner and Steve Johnson set up an all-American semifinal at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. with wins on Friday in the quarterfinals.
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The No. 8 seed Isner beat Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, while Johnson beat fellow American Jack Sock 7-6(5), 6-1.
“He takes really big cuts on the ball and if I miss my spot he really likes pace,” Isner said of Berankis. “He did it one time in the third set as well. He just caught fire and was swinging away. I didn’t panic because it was one set to go. I could have very easily lost that [second] set in a tiebreaker so it was all good.”
The other semifinal will be No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori, who beat Aussie Sam Groth 6-4, 6-4, against No. 4 Marin Cilic who edged Alexander Zverev 7-5, 7-6(3).
“It’s great to be back in the semifinals here and to have a chance to play against Kei in the United States,” said Cilic about the US Open final rematch against Nishikori. “For sure it is going to be an exciting and entertaining match. It’s a great way to start the summer har-court season, and I feel that my form is getting better match after match.”
The women’s semifinals will be top-seeded Ekaterina Makarova vs. unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, and American Sloane Stephens vs. No. 2 seed Sam Stosur.
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