John Isner has lost in the third round of three consecutive U.S. Opens–each time to the same opponent.
But there is good news for the big guy despite his recent injury-plagued loss to Sam Querrey at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday: he almost certainly will not see Philipp Kohlschreiber this time around in round three at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Isner is No. 12 in the world right now and will be seeded somewhere between 11 (if David Ferrer withdraws and nobody else surpasses him) to 14 range. Kohlschreiber can be no higher than 29th after this week by virtue of his first-round Cincinnati loss to Joao Sousa.
That means Kohlschreiber, as a 25-32 seed, will be pitted against a 1-8 seed in the U.S. Open third round. Only by being unseeded–and even then it would be a longshot–would the German have a chance of facing Isner in the last 32.
And, assuming Ferrer–or any other player ahead of Kohlschreiber–withdraws from New York, that can only happen if the following transpires in Cincinnati:
1) Borna Coric reaches the quarterfinals, AND
2) Sam Querrey reaches the quarterfinals, AND
2) EITHER Fernando Verdasco OR Benoit Paire reaches the semifinals, AND
4) EITHER Alexandr Dolgopolov OR Jerzy Janwowicz reaches the final, AND
5) Thanasi Kokkinakis reaches the final
In other words…congrats, John!
