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 6^th 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 6^th game to level the scores.

Isner broke Almagro’s serve again in the 8^th 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 11^th 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.