MELBOURNE PARK, Australia – In a five- set battle on Friday, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez eliminated the last American male at the Australian Open on Friday when he beat John Isner 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-7 (0), 6-1.
Lopez spoke about his performance, “I think I hit the ball ‑‑ overall the match was great I think from my side. I hit great shots. Sometimes I hit a little bit too much, too many double faults at one point, but overall I think I played great. I played great points. For get the break in the fifth set I hit great passing shot.
“So I’m happy with my performance.
“I’m so lucky because I have also a good serve. So I think to play Johnny the way I played today I have to be happy, because this is really difficult player to play.”
A disappointed Isner on the match: “It just got away from me.
“I just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be. Wasn’t as mentally sharp as I needed to be at the beginning of that fifth set.
“It’s a tough matchup for me, but still, I didn’t do the things I needed to do, and it’s really disappointing. I mean, I competed pretty well, but other than that, it wasn’t that great.
“But a lot of it has to do with him, and he kept me off balance and his slice was good. He was in the net. Volleyed well. He was just better today.”
This marks the first time since 1973, that no American men have reached fourth round at the Australian Open.
The 18th seeded Lopez will take on countryman Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
