After a highly successful and encouraging first round, American men hit a bit of a roadblock on the first day of the second at the Australian Open.
John Isner, Ryan Harrison, Steve Johnson and Noah Rubin all lost on Wednesday.
Three of the four defeats weren’t terribly surprising, especially 20-year-old Noah Rubin’s 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3) setback against 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in Rod Laver Arena. Rubin was impressive in that match, playing the Swiss tough, but Federer’s experience was just too much for the Long Island native.
Harrison and Johnson faced extremely difficult tests in Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka, respectively—both have been locked in the Top 10 for years—but neither were particularly competitive, failing to take a set.
The most disappointing performance was Isner’s. The highest-ranked American let a two-set lead slip away against 50th-ranked Mischa Zverev, ultimately falling in a 6-7 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (7), 9-7 marathon.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Americans, though. 31st seed Sam Querrey advanced to the third round with a dominant 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-1 win over 17-year-old Alex De Minaur, and 23rd-seeded Jack Sock had little trouble with up-and-coming Russian Karen Khachanov.