Photo: Martin Sidorjak
Félix Auger-Aliassime won his quarterfinal match earlier today in Rotterdam, but things turned out differently for his countryman No.150 Vasek Pospisil, who lost in two sets (6-4, 6-4) to No.26 John Isner at the Dallas Open.
Going into the match, Pospisil had drummed up some good momentum, winning his last nine indoor hardcourt matches and claiming his first singles title since 2019 at the Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale Challenger. In Dallas, he had his eye on a first ATP semifinal since Sofia in 2020 (loss to Jannik Sinner, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6[3]).
Both Pospisil and John Isner were strong on serve early in the bout and secured the first games without dropping a point. Then, after 20 minutes of play, the American took his tennis to the next level: in the fifth game, he went on the attack and broke Vasek on his second break point to move ahead 4-2. Relying on his monster serve (9 aces), he calmly proceeded all the way to 6-4.
In the second set, Isner kept things humming along. He broke the Canadian in the second game and took control of the match. He served flawlessly (8 aces, 94% first serve points won) and used his powerful shots to close things out in just over two hours (2:06). The 36-year-old American brought his record against the British Columbian to 5–3.
In the semifinal, John Isner will face the winner of the showdown between No.23 Reilly Opelka (23e) and No.57 Adrian Mannarino. It will be Isner’s first seminal appearance since the 2021 National Bank Open in Toronto, where he was ousted by the eventual champion and current World No.2 Daniil Medvedev (6-2, 6-2).
Texas tennis fans will likely be tuning in to tomorrow’s match, since another win by Isner would set the stage for an all-American final. In Saturday’s other semi, No.54 Jenson Brooksby and No.70 Marcos Giron of California will go head-to-head for a spot in the deciding round and a shot at their first ATP title.
