Posts tagged: Isner

ISNER TAKES ON GULBIS

Andy Roddick’s countryman, John Isner, will take on Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the quarter final round of the ongoing BNP Paribas Open.

Being the local boy, Isner has a slight advantage. He would get the support of the crowd and the form has been on his side too. He has put up some powerful performances on his way to final 8 so far.

In his previous match against Fernando Verdasco, Isner had smashed a total of 10 aces which suggests a thing or two about his current form.

Talking to the reporters ahead of his encounter against Gulbis, the 28 years old American said, “He is a very unpredictable player. He is bubbling with potential, but, you can’t say what kind of performance he is going to produce. He might be sensational or he might be ordinary.  I hope it’s the latter one tomorrow, but, look as I said, he is just brilliant. He can make the match one sided if it’s his day.”

“I think the main feature of his game is his ability of shot making. He gives the ball quite a bit of whack.”

Till date, Isner and Gulbis have gone head to head against each other thrice on the tour and surprisingly, it’s the Latvian who is leading despite him being lower than his American opponent in the ATP rankings. He has won two out of those three encounters.

However, the last match played between these two players had gone Isner’s way. So, the American can take that as a confidence booster for himself. He is the favourite to win this match anyway as he is a better hard court player, but, again, when Gulbis is out there, it’s hard to predict what he will come up with.

ISNER BEATS ALMAGRO

Andy Roddick’s countryman, John Isner, has defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the final match of the US men’s clay court championship. Isner won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 7-5.

Isner had reached the finals of this tournament last year, but, couldn’t win the title. He didn’t let that happen this year. With a classy performance, he got better of Almagro and won the title. This is the 6th title won by Isner in his career.

After winning the title, Isner said, “I was playing on the clay courts after September last year and in the first couple of games, I was not fluent. But, I peaked at the right time.”

“Today, I got exactly the kind of start that I was looking for and once I got on top, I didn’t let the pressure come off him.”

In the opening set, both the players held their serve in the first couple of games. In the third game, Isner dropped his serve to go down by 1-2. The next two games went with the serve before the American broke back in the 6th game to level the scores.

Isner broke Almagro’s serve again in the 8th game which gave him a lead of 5-3. He easily won his next service game and sealed the first set by 6-3.

In the second set, Almagro put up a better performance. He was looking good on his serve and was making Isner battle hard for the points.

In the first 10 games of the second set, there were no breakthroughs. But, in the 11th game, Almagro ruined all his hard work. Some poor shots by him gave Isner a break chance which he pounced on.

That serve break took the American player ahead by 6-5. He didn’t waste the advantage after that. A serve hold by him in the next game secured his win.