Twenty-six American players entered the main draw (11 men and 15 women). Round three gets underway tomorrow and only six remain.
John Isner [21] just keeps on winning tiebreaks with his big serve. He defeated Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) today to get to round three where he will face Karen Khachanov, the Russian NextGen star.
Steve Johnson [25] had an emotional victory over the always dangerous Borna Coric 6-2, 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-6(6) yesterday. Next up for Johnson is Dominic Thiem, the second hottest player on clay this season and an opponent who has beaten him in their only encounter. Johnson is playing with a heavy heart after the recent loss of his father. Our prayers are with him and his family.
Venus Williams [10] will play Elise Mertens tomorrow after defeating Kurumi Nara 6-3, 6-1 in round two. This will be their first encounter, which can sometimes be tricky even for an experienced player like Williams.
Catherine (Cici) Bellis gets the unenviable task of playing Caroline Wozniacki [11] in the third round after she took out last year’s semifinalist, Kiki Bertens, 6-3, 7-6(5). Wozniacki defeated Bellis earlier this year on hard court, so hopefully Bellis has made the necessary adjustments and will fare better on clay tomorrow.
Shelby Rogers will take on crowd favorite, Kristina Mladenovic [13]. Mladenovic is suffering from some back issues but she will be spurred on by the crowd. Rogers will have to maintain her focus and execute her shots to perfection if she hopes to get her first victory over the French woman.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands is working overtime in singles and doubles and will play Samantha Stosur [23] next after her impressive victory over Petra Kvitova [15] in two tiebreak sets. They met once in 2009 and that match went the distance on grass. Can Mattek-Sands turn the tables on clay?
How many American players will get to round four?
SOURCE OF IMAGE: Bing search
