Sure seems like it. The minute I saw the draw I said “oh no.” Because drawing Big John Isner, no matter where he’s ranked, is a big task for the 3rd round at a grand slam tournament. Despite the summer success of Lleyton Hewitt, ask any player if they’d rather play Lleyton or Isner in the third round…. they would all pick the diminutive Aussie (who was dismissed in four tough sets yesterday by a bored-looking Roger Federer). Roddick played great, nearly error-free ball. 20 errors over 5 sets – he would take that every time. Isner just played a perfect match. He displayed excellent touch at the net and had Martina Navratilova raving about his intelligent shot selection. (Also give a shout out to Jimmy Connors – several of you are stunned I wrote that – for saying that for someone to win he would have to do something different in that fifth set). Connors was right, the players were at a stalemate. Isner was content to hold serve and wait for a tiebreaker; Roddick never found the range on his return game and chose some questionable court positions during the return games. Most impressively, Isner did not crack mentally. He was poised at all the big moments, even at the beginning of the 5th set, when he was cramping.
From the sounds of it, Andy is more bitter about this loss than the Wimbledon final. And he should be. This one will sting for a while. Andy pointed out that there is no grand slam six weeks away for him to focus on. He will have nightmares for the next six months about playing from behind in fifth sets. First it was against Roger at Wimbledon, where Andy could’ve used a tiebreaker instead of the traditional system. Then at the Open, Roddick, with his superior conditioning, could’ve really used the traditional must-break-to-win format. Terrible luck. He had been playing lights out tennis through the first two rounds and his confidence was sky high. Yet again he (and we) are wondering if that Wimbledon final really was his last, best shot at bagging a second grand slam.
Isner’s Bambi Legs
John Isner is in terrible physical condition. The cramping he experienced last night against Roddick was no physical fluke. When he took his shirt off, I was aghast – no muscle tone! Have you seen any of these guys sans shirt? You can see every muscle – including some you didn’t know exist. Isner has got to put muscle on all over his body and do something besides playing tennis for his workout. If he does, then he can have a Todd Martin-like career. I’ve been on the Isner bandwagon, such as it is, since he popped up to steal a set from Federer at the 2007 US Open. His second year on tour was tough, though. His ranking sank like a stone. The players learned how to read his serve. Isner had to work on serve placement and shot selection. I saw Isner in Tallahassee at the challenger event last April. Not a lot of intensity on the practice court. Shortly thereafter, he had a bout with mononucleosis that sidelined him for six weeks. A few weeks ago in Cincinnati, he was playing hard and striking the ball pretty well but got knocked out early on a similar surface.
Next Up
I post this as a public service:
We have witnessed a bit of a renaissance in serve and volley at this year’s Open. These courts seem faster than the slow grass at Wimbledon, so Isner theoretically has an excellent chance to move on. But his next opponent is Fernando Verdasco, the 10th seed who shocked the world by nearly upending Rafa at the Australian Open. Verdasco is still training with Agassi’s former trainer,Gil Reyes, so I expect him to be much stronger physically. He hasn’t exactly played great tennis this summer, so it will come down to how dead tired Big John is, and how patient Verdasco can be returning serve. When you’re facing a 6’9 server, it’s hard not to panic.
Passing Shots 
Posted on September 6, 2009
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