S. Johnson cruises, gets Isner next in Citi Open

8:51 PM ET

WASHINGTON — After playing doubles past midnight and getting to sleep at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Steve Johnson was less than thrilled to be playing in the first Citi Open men’s match in the main stadium at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Still, showing the sort of progress that has lifted his ranking to a career-high 25th, Johnson played quality, first-strike tennis and ended qualifier Ryan Harrison’s season-best run by winning the all-American matchup 6-4, 6-4 to reach the hard-court tournament’s quarterfinals.

“I was lucky enough to be on the schedule first today. Just good turnaround,” the fifth-seeded Johnson said, his words thick with sarcasm. “Got a few hours of sleep. Just get back up. That’s life. Hopefully the ATP and those guys don’t do that much anymore, because I don’t think it’s fair. It’s up to those guys. They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do.”

Tournament director Jeff Newman said the scheduling was affected by rain that washed out play earlier in the week, and court assignments are based on various factors such as “a television perspective, a fan perspective, how the draws are matched up.”

“Every player wants to play in a certain position. You …

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