Top Spin Blog » Isner

Two, Count’em, Two American Men in U.S. Open Quarters

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:53:21 +0000

It’s been quite a long time since two American men have reached the quarters of a Grand Slam. And good to see that Roddick broke the streak of Spanish wins over American players. Now he just has to keep it going against Nadal, but I think he has a good shot on the hard courts. As does Isner with Murray. On to the semis, gentlemen!

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Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:01:13 +0000

According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were only one in 127. Leave it to a Cambridge math professor to sap the life out of something remarkable. But what were the odds of it happening twice? Is it two in 254? My mom is suspicious of the draw — and I agree with her — that it sounds almost a little shady, as though the Wimbledon PR people manipulated the matchups to gain a little extra news and web coverage.

Today’s match will, of course, be anticlimactic compared to last year. If you want to have a good time reliving the longest match ever in style, go back and reread this blog from The Guardian written as it happened last year where the question was asked at 62-61 in the fifth set: “what if it does actually never end? Would Wimbledon eventually have to introduce a new ruling banning all undead and just nudge Thiemo De Bakker through to the third round?”

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...

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Are You Ready for OZ?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:51:06 +0000

I am, and I’m taking the U.S. win of the Hopman Cup as a good omen for John Isner and the other three American men in the top 20. Look for the draw up soon on the Australian Open’s web site, and tennis from the land of January warm weather starting Sunday night in the states. More posts to come next week!

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Americans Up and Down on the ATP Tour

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:58:24 +0000

As soon as I write a post about Americans hoisting trophies in the summer hardcourt tournaments, the news all turns bad. Roddick, Querrey, Isner and Fish all lose early in Washington. Roddick falls to 11 in the rankings, marking the first time since the ATP rankings began that there are no American men in the world’s top ten. Querrey, despite winning the Los Angeles tournament two weeks ago, falls out of the top 20 to 21. Then Roddick pulls out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto with a yet-to-be-determined illness (the symptoms of which are lethargy), and no other American reaches the third round of the Masters 1000 event.

If anything, this shows how tough it is on the ATP Tour. In the spring, Roddick won the Masters 1000 event in Miami and finished second at Indian Wells, but his poor showings in Grand Slams over the last year have hurt him, and it’s not surprising he dropped once the points he earned for the 2009 Wimbledon final dropped away (ranking points expire after 12 months). And Querrey falls one point despite winning a tournament?

A rankings decline is precipitous on a bad streak. Remember James Blake? He’s 10-12 for 2009 and has fallen all the way down to 108 in the world, from No. 10 only two years ago. But as fast as it falls, you can recover. Some big wins in New York at the U.S. Open can propel one of these Americans back up the charts. I’m betting that either Roddick, Querrey, Isner or Fish will reach the U.S. Open final, and I’d love to see Blake make a last, big run and see a nice guy finish first. The big show gets started on Aug. 30.

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John Isner Stands Tall in Wimbledon’s Longest Match

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:08:08 +0000

6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68.

Epic. Unbelievable. Amazing. Classy. Gracious.

Aces 112 to 103.

Eleven hours, five minutes.

Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...

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Play On! Isner & Mahut Suspend Play on Day 2 in Longest Match

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:17:53 +0000

“Even the scoreboard has died,” the announcer on Radio Wimbledon said at 47-games all. Later, the internet digital scoreboard I was following online flaked out too, unable to post a five in the column that rarely sees a digit, so at 50-50 the score read 0-0. Ultimately, Georgia Bulldog alum John Isner and Frenchman Nicholas Mahut played to the outrageous score of 59-59 in the first round of Wimbledon that has taken more than nine hours total over two days. Not only the longest match ever, Isner has hit an unfathomable 98 aces, beating Ivo Karlovic’s previous record of 78 aces in a match (the Wimbledon record was 51 aces, also held by Karlovic). Less than a year ago, the record high aces for a match was only 55 aces (Mahut after Tuesday’s match is now second on the list, with 94 aces). And by the way, Isner has hit a total 333 winners thus far. And it’s not even over. Check out the statistics and gasp. These records may stand forever. Come’on, Wimbeldon, let’s get them off Court 18 tomorrow – put them on Centre Court! And go, Big John. Hit the 100 ace mark and knock down the win!

Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...

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Still Alive! Isner and Bob Bryan Win a Thriller

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:30:36 +0000

Bob Bryan and John Isner, subsituting for an ill Mike Bryan, fought back in the first and third set tiebreakers to win in four sets in the Davis Cub doubles against Serbia on Saturday. A brilliant win, especially for Isner in his Davis Cup debut, a weekend in which he did not plan to play doubles. Tomorrow the task gets harder, with Isner up against Novak Djokovic. (9 a.m. ET on Tennis Channel) Bigger upsets have happened, but I can’t think of many.

U.S. Davis Cup: Roddick, Isner, Bryan & Bryan In his first official order of business, U.S. Davis Cup...
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U.S. Davis Cup: Backs to the Wall in the Balkans

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:13:17 +0000

From Daviscup.com: Novak Djokovic confirmed Serbia’s dominance over USA by beating Sam Querrey at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie in Belgrade.

Playing in front of a passionate home crowd, Djokovic handed his team a commanding 2-0 lead on Friday. Despite a spirited fight back from Querrey in the third set, the world No. 2 won the second rubber of the day 62 76(4) 26 63 in three hours, 25 minutes.

In the opening rubber, Viktor Troicki withstood a creditable clay court challenge from John Isner to win 76(4) 67(5) 75 64 in three hours 36 minutes.

U.S. Davis Cup: Roddick, Isner, Bryan & Bryan In his first official order of business, U.S. Davis Cup...

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American Young Guns to Get Chance at Davis Cup in Serbia

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:44:52 +0000

A new era for American Davis Cup has begun, and it will be up to John Isner and Sam Querrey to step up and fill the shoes of long-time Davis Cuppers Andy Roddick and James Blake who are sitting out the competition this year. The tall twosome — Isner is 6′9″ an Querey 6′6″ — have a tall order to fill against the Serbian team lead by Novak Djokovic on indoor red clay in Belgrade on March 5-7. “This is the first time since 2000 that neither Andy Roddick nor James Blake will be on the U.S. Davis Cup roster – a span of 25 Davis Cup ties,” a USTA press release said. The Bryan brothers, the world’s No. 1 doubles team fresh of an Australian Open championship, will try to continue to build on their dominant career record of 16-2 in Davis Cup play. The U.S. vs. Serbia winner will face either Ecuador or Croatia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, July 9-11. If the United States beats Serbia, they will be guaranteed to host the July quarterfinal, the press release said.

U.S. Davis Cup: Roddick, Isner, Bryan & Bryan In his first official order of business, U.S. Davis Cup...
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See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...

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Roddick Fights Back, Isner Cut Down

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:13:01 +0000

Andy Roddick fought back deep in the fourth set and dominated the fifth to overcome Fernando Gonzalez and his rowdy Chilean fans in Melbourne. The biggest point of the match was a Roddick shot at set point that was called out but the review overruled and deemed it good, much to Gonzalez’s dismay, who had let the ball go without reaching for it. Gonzalez insisted he had a play on the ball, but the umpire did not agree. It gave Roddick the set and the momentum to close it out. This was a reversal of the situation that set Roddick off after his win over Tomaz Belluci into a cursing tirade, even after he won the match. The lesson here for both playerrs, as pointed out by Patrick McEnroe, is play the ball. Roddick’s chance look good for a semi, with a date against Marin Cilic in the quarters, against whom he has a 1-1 career record.

The other American in the round of 16, big John Isner, fought Andy Murray tough, holding a set point in the first, but ultimately being overcome by the crafty Scotsman. For some British sports writing hyperbole of the highest order, check out the Guardian’s coverage of the match, with lines like these: Murray “reduced the 6ft 9inJohn Isner to a drained and dispirited wreck”; or “This was a match made in tennis heaven, given the perfectly meshed and contrasting styles of the combatants. Isner charged in on stilt-like legs behind his booming serve.”

Although Murray ran him ragged, look for Isner to have a big year, though, especially on the fast courts. How about a Wimbledon win for Isner to give the Brits more fodder for alliteration and metaphor?

U.S. Davis Cup: Roddick, Isner, Bryan & Bryan In his first official order of business, U.S. Davis Cup...
Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...
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