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WASHINGTON -- After playing doubles past midnight and getting to sleep at about 3 a.m., Steve Johnson was less than thrilled to be playing in the first Citi Open mens 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 Harrisons season-best run by winning the all-American matchup 6-4, 6-4 to reach the hard-court tournaments 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. Thats life. Hopefully, the ATP and those guys dont do that much anymore, because I dont think its fair. Its up to those guys. Theyve got to do what theyve 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 try to take feedback and weigh it all, Newman said. Some players will be happy; some people would prefer other spots.Johnson, a member of the U.S. Olympic team headed to Rio de Janeiro next month, broke Harrison once in each set, did not face a break point himself and ended the match with a 130 mph ace.A two-time NCAA singles champion in 2011 and 2012, and a member of Southern California teams that won four consecutive national titles, Johnson earned his first ATP trophy at Nottingham, England, last month, then backed that up by making his fourth-round debut at a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon.I knew I was capable always of winning a title -- and, hopefully, multiple titles, Johnson said. Once you win it, then you know what it feels like, you know what its like to be serving for a title. You get to those situations a little bit more and you just hopefully become more comfortable.On Friday, Johnson will face top-seeded John Isner, who hit serves at up to 143 mph, produced 16 aces and never faced a break point in a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over No. 15 Marcos Baghdatis. This will be the third year in a row that Americans Johnson and Isner meet in Washington; Johnson won in 2014, and Isner did in 2015, both decided by a third-set tiebreaker.Hell tell you this much: He was playing pretty poorly the first five months of the year. Wasnt getting much going. But he turned the corner (in June), Isner said. Hes carried that confidence over to here. Hes just like anyone else: When he gets confidence on his side, he starts going for his shots and his shots start finding the right spots.Also Thursday, No. 2-seeded Gael Monfils overwhelmed No. 16 Borna Coric 6-2, 6-3, No. 13 Ivo Karlovic hit 21 aces and eliminated No. 3 Bernard Tomic 7-6 (4), 6-3, No. 6 Jack Sock beat Dan Evans 6-1, 7-5, No. 7 Alexander Zverev got past Malek Jaziri 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, and No. 8 Sam Querrey took the last five games in a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over 2012 champion Alexandr Dolgopolov.In womens action, third-seeded Monica Puig lost to Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-2, fourth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic beat 2013 Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-3, Risa Ozaki edged Naomi Broady 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, and Camila Giorgi advanced when Tamira Paszek withdrew before their match because of an upper respiratory infection.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce says Roy Hodgson should consider including Jermain Defoe in his England squad for Euro 2016. Defoes 15th Premier League goal of the season helped defeat Chelsea 3-2 on Saturday and victory over Everton - live on Sky Sports on Wednesday night - would secure the Black Cats top-flight status.The former West Ham and Tottenham striker has proved instrumental in guiding Sunderland towards safety and, with Danny Welbecks place on the plane to France now in doubt, Allardyce believes 33-year-old Defoe deserves to be considered by Hodgson. Allardyce believes Defoe deserves another chance at international level I just think that, if Roy needed anybody to go along with the experience Jermain has when he needs a goal - maybe not from the start sometimes - Jermain would be your man if he felt he needed it, because he has proven that this year, said the Sunderland boss.Hes had a big run of games that he has not had for a few years and he has been a consistent performer at the highest level again and scored 18 goals in all competitions. That leaves him around the third or the fourth highest scorer in the Premier League in all competitions this year, which is pretty miraculous in a team thats been sat in the bottom three or four all season.Defoe has won 55 caps for England to date, scoring 19 goals. His last cap came as a substitute in the 2-0 friendly home defeat by Chile at Wembley in November 2013. Sam Allardyce looks ahead to Wednesdays match against Everton Allardyce added: For the first time for a few years, hes consistently played week in and week out for us at Sunderland and delivered, and delivered in a position that people questioned that he could deliver in, which is as a central striker on his own.dddddddddddd Defoe has been in fine goalscoring form in recent weeks Hes done all that in whats been a struggle for us for most of the year, so its a great credit to him and his professionalism and dedication, and his ability in front of goal.We couldnt have asked for the ball to drop any better than it did for that third goal [against Chelsea] to Jermain. Hed be the one on the pitch we would have all wanted it to drop to, and he didnt disappoint us. Also See: Allardyce: Safety not assured Defoe in Power Rankings Sunderland 3-2 Chelsea Saturdays Opta stats ' ' '