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John Isner Isnerizes Delpo in Miami Open Semi
44 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Like a stage five hurricane, John Isner has wreaked havoc on Key Biscayne this week, decimating Vesely, Youzhny, Cilic and today Juan Martin Del Potro 61 76 in the Miami Open semifinal.
Isner was at his best, unleashing his destructive serve and also relentless high velocity forehands. Delpo was near helpless under the onslaught and even numerous calculated crowd choruses to inspire his highest level of play failed to work.
Isner was just too good for the fatigued Indian Wells hero who has played sixteen matches this month. “John deserved to win. He served well. He played a great tiebreaker. He was too good,” said the ousted 5 seed. “I dont have excuses. He was better today. He has everything to win a title like this.”
Miami would be Isner’s first Masters 1000 title. But he will need to do something he has never done before to raise the Key Biscayne glassware… beat Alexander Zverev who he is 0-3 against or Pablo Carrena Busta, the steady Spaniard he has never matched skills against.
If Isner can sustain his high level of accuracy and aggression he will be a most daunting challenge to overcome. Isner only won two singles matches all year before Miami and he analyzed what factors helped to get his career back on track.
“Two reasons. The doubles title in Indian Wells (with Sock) helped a lot. It kept me in match mode. Doubles success always carries over into my singles. And after Acapulco I went back to Dallas for a few days and then to LA for four or five days before Indian Wells. I put in a lot of hard work. I know hard work doesnt always pay off. I lost in Indian Wells to Paire. Me and David MacPherson came to Miami and had a lot of dinner conversations where we talked about a lot of things.”
Words have poetically turned into actions this week though there was a major obstacle in the first round. Isner won a close tiebreaker from Vesely then lost the second set. He left the grandstand court to get treatment for an achy groin and somehow managed to scrape out the third set despite not feeling his best. “I wasnt feeling very well but I was able to relax and free up, feel loose and hit the ball.”
The momentum from that win has carried Isner all the way final and quite possibly the highest level of play in his career. At 32 Isner hasnt looked as potent and lethal on a tennis court in a long time. He has just demolished two top six players and is now one match from his first Masters 1000 title.
“I feel super fresh and ready to go for the final on Sunday,” said Isner who is seeking to be the first American winner here since Roddick six years ago.
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Hartt · March 30, 2018 at 9:12 pm
Sascha just won over PCB, playing exceptionally well in the 2nd set, when he started to be more aggressive. It could be a close, entertaining final.
Chazz · March 30, 2018 at 10:11 pm
Zverev has figured things out, playing incredible tennis. I’m not sure what the strategy would be against him but I would probably stay away from his backhand because I think it’s the most lethal BH in the world.
Hartt · March 31, 2018 at 7:45 am
The exciting thing about Sascha is, with his determination to improve each day, he will play even better in the future. He said he’d gained 4 kg and at the beginning of the season was still getting used to his new body. We saw the results of that extra strength last night. And he is so fast, especially for such a tall guy, that he will continue to improve his net game.
According to Darren Cahill, there is a possibility that Lendl could coach him. If he has a coach who has experienced winning big tourneys, in addition to his father, Sascha will be even more of a force to be reckoned with.
catherine · March 31, 2018 at 3:01 pm
Only saw the last few games of Stephens/Ostapenko but it didn’t seem too thrilling, although the first set must have been close. Why are so many women’s finals flops ?
Hartt · March 31, 2018 at 3:23 pm
Catherine, I saw the entire match, and it was not compelling, even the first set. The match was more about Ostapenko making a huge number of unforced errors and not enough winners to compensate than any great tennis.
In the 2nd set, Stephens did what Kasatkina did so effectively to beat Ostapenko in the Charleston final last year. She just kept getting the ball back until Jelena made an error.
catherine · March 31, 2018 at 3:54 pm
Yes – maybe a bad match-up between these two. Ostapenko tends to make tons of UEs when she’s not on form. Still – she’s only 20.
Miami’s been an odd tournament for the women, at least. Expected big names did not perform.
Hartt · March 31, 2018 at 6:15 pm
The Bryans won the doubles title in an entertaining match against Khachanov and Rublev. The Russian youngsters took the first set 6-4, the Bryans upped their level to win the 2nd, and then won the match TB quite handily. Obviously they have much more experience and expertise in doubles than the youngsters, who were playing in just their 4th tourney as a team.
But the Russians made it competitive, and there were many fun points. There was a decent size crowd who enthusiastically supported the Bryans, but they were fair and cheered when the opponents won a good point.
I am mystified why doubles is not more popular with fans. Along with serves, returns and baseline play, we get the volleys, lobs, and smashes that are missing from so many singles matches. Plus the tactics that a good doubles team has at its disposal. Not to mention a Bryan practically taking Rublev’s head off – a good thing he ducked quickly!
Dan Markowitz · March 31, 2018 at 7:44 pm
I think it has a lot to do with the face you know you’re not watching the best players play doubles. You know not a single top doubles player can compete amongst the top singles players in singles of course. And I think tennis is an individual sport. It’s kind of like a coach coming onto the court for women’s tennis. it seems so incongruent like you wonder why the player even calls the coach out because they don’t much listen to the coach.
Tennis is a one on one sport. It’s also why Challengers rarely attract big crowds. People want to see the best players in the world. They don’t want to see primarily non-stars play tennis.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 3:40 am
Dan- doubles did attract top players in previous eras but things changed with many more tournaments and much more money in singles. Not worth risking a chance at a title with doubles play. Can’t recall the last time a top man or woman won a major doubles title. (maybe Martina, either N or H)
Re your last point – something about one-on-one sports like tennis v team sports – I can imagine watching low level local type team sports, football, village cricket etc but never in a million years would I watch a similar level in tennis. Something about the team aspect I think. So the actual standard doesn’t seem to matter so much.
Hartt – lots of fans aren’t that interested in the finer technical points of the game so a lot of the doubles tactics you mention would be lost on them.
As for OCC it’s flagrant blatant cheat which was introduced by the WTA in the hope that listening to a coach and player exchanging (or not exchanging)often redundant information in a foreign language is going to result in a better ‘fan involvement’ and bigger crowds.
Eg – did Fisette really need to come on court to tell Kerber to relax and just enjoy playing when she was dead on her feet and being hammered by Stephens ? No, he didn’t. Made absolutely no difference to the result and Angie, after more than half her lifetime in tennis, could have worked it out for herself. And if a player does benefit, then that’s where the cheating comes in.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 4:20 am
I continue to be amazed at how differently people see matches – I thought the women’s final was essentially dross – 69 UEs over 2 sets does not a great match make, 48 from Penko and 21 (6 winners) from Stephens.
Yet plenty of commenters thought it was a classic and someone said Stephens plays like Federer 🙂
I give up.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 4:24 am
Scoop – almost unanimous agreement about the fight though. A bore fest. (I don’t watch boxing but you can’t avoid Joshua in UK.)
dan markowitz · April 1, 2018 at 6:16 am
Agassi is out as Joker’s coach. Talk about a bad partnership. Agassi said the two often agreed to disagree. Must leave a bad taste in Agassi’s mouth and it’ll be interesting to see if he dips his toe again into coaching.
The partnership of a European player and an American coach, I can’t remember when that’s been a successful team. Bollettieri did coach Becker for a while with success. But usually you don’t see a European player having an American coach.
The rumors that Lendl might soon become Zverev’s coach are interesting. Lendl hasn’t coached anyone but Murray. But this Djoker riddle is unprecedented I think in sport. This is a big champion at his peak and he has completely lost his game. I guess you can look at Tiger Woods and interesting enough, there were injuries with both athletes, but it is their personal lives that seemed to have derailed them mostly.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 6:33 am
Agassi’s absence in Miami suggested he and Djokovic had decided to split before then.
Neither Andre nor Steffi have shown much interest in coaching apart from giving odd bits of ‘advice’ to various players passing through Las Vegas.
Hartt · April 1, 2018 at 7:08 am
Catherine, I totally agree about the women’s final – it was a very poor match. Stephens showed some skill, and her quickness, but she did not have to do a lot to win. During the match one of the commies tried to say it was interesting, but I just thought he should save his breath. And the posters on Match Call Migrants, who follow the WTA closely, were not impressed either.
scoopmalinowski · April 1, 2018 at 7:53 am
Sloane made plenty of errors but her defending was superb. Little buzz before the final which seemed like a second round affair. It was a nice final. I suppose the $1.3m and $600k payouts to winner and loser is what made it nervey. Good to see SS in top form $loane $tevens is a $$ player.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 8:18 am
Hartt – yes, and you know sometimes I think a bit of truth telling about matches like this would be a good thing for everyone – spectators, boosters (WTA etc), journalists, and the players themselves. Ostapenko might think Sloane is a ‘great player’ but she’s not, and I hope Stephens doesn’t start to believe it.
Some top players did not show up in Miami – for reasons unknown to us of course, but we’re entitled to ask ‘what happened ?’ The players want publicity but they should be able to take the rough with the smooth and not just slough it off the way Simona, for eg, appeared to. Chris was right to question Simona’s committment – but got criticism for that. The same way Martina did when she queried Radwanska’s application a few years ago during their short coaching stint.
There are too many distractions, players have everything done for them, they are well paid and pampered. And they are under absolutely no obligation other than to go out on the court and perform the best they can.
Often they do that, but when the action falls below the standard we expect then I don’t think anyone should be afraid to say so, in public. Bad plays in the theatre, bad movies, they get bad reviews. Same for a tennis match.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 8:50 am
Scoop – Sloane wasn’t in top form, far from it, and pro players shouldn’t get nervous in a final because of the prize money. Sorry.
Let’s see how SS performs outside the US, where she can apparently do no wrong.
(BTW I wrote the previous post 8.18 am before I saw yours)
Doug Day · April 1, 2018 at 10:39 am
When its good, on court coaching is that rarest reveal:peeking into celebrities under real pressure. What they get paid for is coping and the coaches mining their insights into the players performance….or not!
Dan Markowitz · April 1, 2018 at 12:38 pm
Look women’s tennis for the most part is a snore-fest. Collins caught my interest in this event. The Woz v Halep finals was good in Australia; Ostapenko has some pluch; Stephens is a great athlete. Osaka for me is the most interesting because she just hits the ball so effortlessly. But in my opinion, 90 per cent of women’s tennis is either downright boring or just tedious.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Dan – we all know your feelings about women’s tennis and I’m not really interested in anything you’ve got to say because you don’t follow it and your mind’s made up anyway.
I’m quite critical of lots of things about the WTA and women players but I feel justified in that because I actually do watch quite a lot of matches and I support the women’s game overall because it’s part of the sport. (I also follow the men and at the moment I’m watching the Miami final)
If you had had a daughter as well as your son, would you have bothered to teach her the game ? Or would you have found the whole idea boring and tedious ?
And if you find that comment overly personal then I’m sorry but you’ve invited it – you own comments on women in tennis can seem quite insulting at times. With views like yours it’s probably best to say nothing.
scoopmalinowski · April 1, 2018 at 2:04 pm
Maybe Sloane struggled to look great in final because Ostapenkos power. Ostapenko forced SS to scramble and play a lot of defense which like my media tournament singles tiebreaker final did not look pretty but I managed to win 10-4 from 1-4 down.
catherine · April 1, 2018 at 2:21 pm
Did you win the tournament ?
(I’m not denigrating Sloane – she’ll get better I’m sure and be top 5 in a year or so – but she wasn’t at her best in Miami)
Hartt · April 1, 2018 at 4:10 pm
So Isner won the trophy! He looked super excited, so you have to be happy for him. This was probably his best chance ever to nab a Masters, so good for him for coming through. Sascha will have many other opportunities. Unfortunately for Sascha fans, he was too conservative during sections of this match. And then John got a 2nd wind in the decider.
scoopmalinowski · April 1, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Yes I won third yr in row. Sloane didnt need her very best to win miami. She still got it done. Mark of a champion. To win a big title not on her best day.
scoopmalinowski · April 1, 2018 at 8:53 pm
Well, Isner played the best match of his life to overcome Zverev. One atp win all yr, suddenly gets hot a wins the biggest title of his career and overcame a lot of adversity too. Incredible triumph by John and US tennis this weekend. Americans won all four titles with some Aussie assistance.
Dan Markowitz · April 1, 2018 at 9:25 pm
Catherine,
I happen to watch a fair amount of women’s tennis and yes if I had a daughter I’m sure I would’ve spent as much time on the court with her as I have my son. I prefer to watch the men, but if there’s an exciting woman’s match or a player with personality I’m open to watching it. Look I tell my son, and he’s playing in the Clay Court Nationals in Orlando in July and the hard courts in Mobile, Ala in August, “Don’t moonball or hit too many rally balls else I’ll walk away from your match.”
I don’t care if it’s my own son, I don’t like to see boring tennis. And too many of the women nowadays play defensive tennis including Kerber who I know is your big love. I mean compare Kerber to Navratilova who I loved watching play and still think was the greatest woman’s player, Kerber doesn’t hold a candle to Martina’s racquet skills.
Joe Blow · April 1, 2018 at 9:52 pm
Isner was buried on here two weeks ago, this week he’ll be favored to win Wimbledon and the US Open
Hartt · April 1, 2018 at 9:59 pm
I loved Navratilova as well, but I think it is unfair to compare Kerber to one of the greatest female players.
I wish I could see more women’s matches, but my sports channel only covers women’s matches at the Slams and the Rogers Cup. So to see the matches I have to resort to a stream, often with poor quality.
But the matches I do get to see vary from compelling to boring, just as the men’s matches do. Because I am able to see them more often, I am more interested in the ATP players for the most part. But it is a self-fulfilling prophesy. The TV channel doubtless claims there is not sufficient interest in the women’s matches to carry them. People don’t see the women players, so they don’t become interested in them. And therefore the TV channel does not carry WTA matches.
Dan Markowitz · April 2, 2018 at 12:15 am
Alright, tell me who are the women’s players Shapo, Zverev or even Jack Sock not to mention Federer or Nadal? There just aren’t any. Serena at her best is dominating, but not aesthetically very pleasing. I do like Osaka, Camilia Giorgi used to captivate me, but she’s really fallen off; Collins seems to have an appealing slashing style, but the top women’s players today just don’t float my boat the way Clijsters, Henin, Graf, Hingis or Capriati did and of course Martina N was the bomb.
Joe Blow · April 2, 2018 at 12:34 am
The women 5’10 and taller all play the same big hitting game from the baseline. Two handed swinging volleys, never take the second hand off the racket for touch and feel volleys. Can either hit you off the court. Or look horrible
The under 5’10’s, can beat the big hitters if the big hitters are off, tend to play more side to side, with angles, barely hold serve when it counts. They can run into a big girl having a great day in a Major and just get hit off th e court. When the smaller girls play each other it becomes a mental test at some important point. Anyone’s guesss which one will hold off tears
My general feel about women’s tennis
catherine · April 2, 2018 at 2:58 am
Dan – just have a look back to the post you originally wrote and you’ll see why I responded as I did. It was pretty dismissive.
I’ve watched an awful lot of women’s tennis in my life, at times because I had to because no one else would, and I can remember players you’ve probably never heard of. Whatever makes you think I enjoy boring tennis ? I used to moan a lot about the women’s game to the degree the WTA complained about me. Did I care ? No.
And this constant comparing players is pretty meaningless – generations come and go, styles change. As Hartt says – why compare Navratilova with Kerber ? Martina played in the serve/volley era and that was her style. As I’ve often said here, I prefer s/v and I dislike defensive play. To me, Kerber has an idiosyncratic style,which I find interesting, and she tries so hard, which appeals to me as well. Other than that, nothing else to say.
We all have our favourites – I couldn’t stand Capriati and I wasn’t a fan of Martina Hingis’ either, but I wouldn’t say my likes or dislikes were indicative of skill level. Martina was a great player etc etc but I actually think BJK, in her prime, had a
catherine · April 2, 2018 at 3:10 am
(submitted by accident so I’ll just finish – )
BJK had a better all-round game. Martina, as is well known, modelled her own game on BJK’s.
Chris had a game boring at times but what she did with her more limited physical skills wasn’t boring at all.
You seem to want it all – how many men are as good as Federer ? You can’t have perfection, not anywhere.
I’m always hoping that one day a young woman player will come along who’s not content to bash from the baseline and who instinctively moves forward – but I’m not holding my breath.
My last word – if the tennis bores you, don’t watch it it. It’s the game that’s boring and tedious – not women.
scoopmalinowski · April 2, 2018 at 5:00 am
Su wei Hsieh is the most intriguing amazing Wta player. Shes just a wisp but won two rds and forced no 5 Pliskova to 76 in the third. Its fascinating how she does it with creativity, counterpunching, defense and sometimes power strikes but you wonder how she summons the power with her slight build. Truly a tennis wonder.
catherine · April 2, 2018 at 6:05 am
I agree. She should be a role model for girls who think the way to win is to bash their opponents off the court from the baseline and run them to death in mind numbing rallies.
Great timing is the secret of her ball striking I suppose.
I wish this ‘offense’ and ‘defense’ terminology would disappear. It’s artificial. You can play both strategies at once in the same point. That’s what tennis should be. Mixed up. It’s not American football.
scoopmalinowski · April 2, 2018 at 7:43 am
Ostapenko seems to only play offense.
catherine · April 2, 2018 at 8:23 am
Maybe she could mix it up a bit and then she wouldn’t make so many UEs 🙂
The funny thing about Navratilova, everyone saying how great she was and she’s their favourite and so on but I don’t think she had much of an influence on following generations. I don’t know why. Perhaps the technological changes in racquets and changes in surfaces persuaded coaches that s/v wasn’t going to work so nobody tried. I really don’t know.
I’ll never forgive Radwanska for throwing away that chance of working with Martina. She hasn’t won anything since.
PS- was it that Martina, like John McEnroe, made the game look too difficult ? Chris made the game look easy – it wasn’t, but girls could watch her and think it was.
Dan Markowitz · April 2, 2018 at 9:14 am
Catherine,
What you wrote is the most inane thing I’ve seen written on Tennis-Prose.com in 10 years. The game is boring, that’s ridiculous. The game is fascinating if the right players are playing it. Too often in women’s tennis though you get these nonsensical matches where the players just go back and forth with no forays.
Tennis is a great game and when you have dynamic players playing it, Tiafoe, Shapovalov, Felix and Opelka come to mind now of NextGen players, I love it. It’s constant action, strategy and skill. What could be better?
catherine · April 2, 2018 at 9:57 am
Dan-
Please get off my back. And stop ascribing to me ‘inane’ things I didn’t write.
I never meant tennis as a game is boring. You’ve completely misunderstood me. As if I’d say anything so stupid. As if I’d be on this site if I thought that.
And I try to avoid insulting other people who write here.
I just get fed up with your constant complaining about women’s tennis. Some of it sounds as if it’s the women you’re complaining about, not the tennis.
If you’ve paid attention to anything I’ve written since I’ve been here you’ll know that I’m totally aware of the problems in the women’s game when it comes to variety of style, tactics etc. That issue has been discussed since I first took an interest in the game around 1972.
And when I took up an interest again a while ago after a 15 year hiatus, I discovered, surprise surprise, those issues are still being batted around.
However, I’ll remove myself from this particular discussion from now on. I haven’t got anything to add anyway.
Dan Markowitz · April 2, 2018 at 5:58 pm
Catherine,
I’m sorry I called your comment inane. I just am sensitive to people calling tennis a boring game because thats’s the prevalent view around the town we live in where my son is basically the only top level player around here. It’s a game very different from baseball another sport my son excels at but is a more static game with short bursts of kinetic action. Tennis is a game of phenomenal agility, skill, quick decision-making and mental and physical toughness. I admire anyone who plays the game at a high level and when I was at the Miami Open last week, one night when Venus played Collins, I actually liked the women’s match better than the men’s that followed, Delpp v Raonic.
I am frustrated that women have such an easier time getting college scholarships in tennis, but I love watching a good women’s match or when a woman can hold her own with a male player. Like my son plays the no. 1 girl’s player at McEnroe’s in the 14’s division and I think it helps him. He usually beats her, but she pushes him mightily. But foremost I like athleticism on the court or idiosyncrasy and that’s why I’ve always like players like Braasch and Pozzi as well as McEnroe and Connors because they had a street fighter’s and artist’s approach to the game. The women I see with that kind of artistry or bold original style are unfortunately few and far behind, but I thought it was best embodied by Navratilova, and she had the guts to play men like Connors, her own age, with pretty much even rules. That took guts and talent.
Scoop Malinowski · April 2, 2018 at 6:51 pm
Dan you need to watch Su Wei Hsieh play singles or doubles. She is the most creative artistic player in the game today.
catherine · April 3, 2018 at 2:40 am
Dan – apology accepted. Of course I don’t know anything about the college tennis system in the US but it doesn’t seem fair to me that girls get easier acceptance. I suppose there’s more competition among boys.
Tennis always seems to come a distant third in popularity of sport – in the UK it’s mainly football and where I grew up in Aust, in spite of the great Australian tennis players of the day, cricket and Aust Rules football were much more important. I like cricket but not football.
I wouldn’t take any notice of how people think about tennis where you live. It’s the way you and Callum feel that matters.
Hartt · April 3, 2018 at 8:29 am
Although it is frustrating, I think we tennis fans have to accept that it is less popular than many other sports. In Canada it would come behind hockey, basketball, baseball, NFL football, CFL football, soccer and curling. There are probably a few I am forgetting!
Denis Shapovalov has said one of his goals is to raise the profile of tennis in Canada, especially getting more kids to play it. If anyone can do that it is charismatic young Denis.
Scoop Malinowski · April 3, 2018 at 6:01 pm
If Shapovalov and Felix can’t make tennis a major sport in Canada, no one can. A country could not ask for a better pair of ambassadors to grow the sport.
Hartt · April 3, 2018 at 9:33 pm
Scoop, I totally agree about Shapo and Felix. And Felix can be a tennis ambassador in both French and English. I can’t wait for him to get his ranking high enough to be on the main tour, so it will be easier to see him play. He is in a Challenger in Spain now.