Aussie Thompson topples top seed Isner in New York

New York: Australian Jordan Thompson upset US top seed John Isner 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 on Thursday to reach the ATP New York Open quarterfinals. Thompson, who will face Italy’s Andreas Seppi on Friday for a berth in the semifinals, avenged a loss to Isner in last year’s New York quarterfinals. The world number 63 took his first victory in four meetings with the big-serving American. “Pretty stoked with that,” Thompson said. “It was a tough match. Didn’t get much of a look at his serve. I got one break and managed to hold on somehow.” The 25-year-old from Sydney surged ahead 5-0 in the first tie-breaker, then fell behind 4-1 in dropping the second only to take the lone break of the match in the final set. “I just told myself to keep going and I would get a look,” Thompson said. “And luckily I pulled it off.” Defending champion Reilly Opelka beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4, sending the US third seed into a quarterfinal against Taiwan’s Jason Jung, who upset British seventh seed Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4. British eighth seed Kyle Edmund defeated Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 6-4 to book a last-eight date with South Korean Kwon Soon-woo. The other quarterfinal sends French fourth seed Ugo Humbert against Serbian sixth seed Miomir Kecmanovic. — AFP