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Showing posts with label John Isner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Isner. Show all posts

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Isner powers to victory as U.S. draw level with France in Davis Cup

Tennis
John Isner (right) beat Gilles Simon in straight sets to tie the Davis Cup
(CNN) -- The United States are tied 1-1 with France after the first day of the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune, France.

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave the hosts the initiative with a four-set 7-5 6-2 2-6 6-2 win over Ryan Harrison in the opening rubber.

But the United States hit back to level the tie as big-serving John Isner fired nine aces in a straight-set 6-3 6-2 7-5 win over Gilles Simon.

"I took the court very confident," Isner said, DavisCup.com reported.

"To me no matter who I was going to play today, I was going to feel confident no matter what. So that was the case today," he added.

"I went out there and I played very well, simple as that. I was very happy with how I played and I am happy that I was able to help the team out."

The U.S., who are without Andy Roddick or Mardy Fish, will look to the Bryan brothers (Bob and Mike) to edge them into the lead tomorrow as they face Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau.

Meanwhile in Castellon, Spain took a firm hold on their tie against Austria as Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer recorded straight set wins over Jurgen Melzer and Andreas Haider-Maurer respectively.

The five-time champions, who are without the services of an injured Rafael Nadal, can now clinch the tie on Saturday with victory in the doubles.

Almagro was on court for just under two hours in his 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over Melzer while world No.5 Ferrer demolished Haider-Maurer 6-1 6-3 6-1 to continue his unbeaten status in Davis Cup singles matches.

"I won relatively easily and am happy with my game. Maybe the opponent played a little bit bad and made many mistakes but I played very solid and consistent," Ferrer said, DavisCup.com reported.

Over In Prague, Serbia, who are without the services of World No.1Novak Djokovic, got off to a bad start against the Czech Republic as Tomas Berdych cruised to a straight-set win over Victor Troicki 6-2 6-1 6-2.

But Janko Tipsarevic overcame Radek Stepanek in a five-set thriller 5-7 6-4 6-4 4-6 9-7 to level the tie.

The winners will face either Argentina or Croatia who are battling it out in Buenos Aires.

That tie is nicely poised after Croatian No.1 Marin Cilic beat David Nalbandian 5-7 6-4 4-6 7-6 6-3 before Juan Martin del Potro hit back leveling the match with a straight sets victory over Ivo Karlovic 6-2 7-6 6-1.

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

John Isner upsets Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells

Tennis playet John Isner of USA
John Isner
John Isner upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a semifinal match at the BNP Parbias Open.

The victory will move Isner into the top 10 of the next ATP rankings. He'll have a chance to add to his point total on Sunday, when he'll face either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in his first-ever Masters 1000 final.

Isner utilized his game plan to perfection. With his powerful serve, the 6-foot-9 American was able to hold serve with ease and extend both his winning sets to tiebreaks. Isner is 10-4 in such sets this season, a record that's not unexpected when you're hitting 144-mph third-set serves, as he did on Saturday.

"It's a lot of pressure knowing that somebody serves that well," Djokovic told reporters after the match.

The 26-year-old Isner also used a deft touch at the net in the victory. He's surprisingly nimble when coming in for volleys and the angle at which he hits those shots makes them difficult to return.

Djokovic was the defending champion at Indian Wells. It was his second semifinal loss in the past two weeks. Much like his other defeat against Andy Murray, this one had more to do with the opponent than any poor play from Djokovic. If his game has slipped at all since last year's historic start, it's only slightly. His peers are improving.

Isner's was the first victory for an American over a world No. 1 since James Blake defeated Roger Federer at the 2008 Olympics.

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