US Open Day 6: The best win of John Isner's career

Almost every time you hear the name John Isner, you’ll hear references to his 6 foot 9 frame, his big serve and comparisons to the other ‘big giant’ of the tour, Ivo Karlovic. Isner first made his name on the tour on the back of a unique run to the finals of Washington a couple of years back, with his ability to win numerous third set tie-breaks in succession. It’s hard to forget a run like that, and immediately it attaches the idea of Isner being a serve specialist, which he most certainly was at that point of time in his career.

All these comparisons to Karlovic have certainly done him no favours, because Isner is a far more exciting player, more of a risk-taker and more of a shotmaker. Karlovic doesn’t have much of a presence on his return games. He usually sticks to playing a mostly defensive baseline game pinned to his backhand hitting slice backhands all day.

But with Isner, he has the ability to string together brilliant points, or at least he intimidates opponents with his firepower and puts more pressure on his opponents to keep him on the move. The first set tie-break that Isner played against Roddick is easily the best tennis that I’ve ever seen Isner play. That whole tie-break as a whole would have been worthy of making a highlights reel. When you see Isner ripping backhand winners, to complement the forehand winners, you know he’s having a good day.

For me, the winners he’s capable of hitting on his backhand is a sign of the natural power that he possesses. There’s no other way of explaining it because his racquet head speed on that side doesn’t look impressive at all, neither does the timing on the shot. Quite simply he leans into the shot and hits through it firmly, two hands right through the flight of the ball. Firm and strong, using his long levers to generate the power for him.

The second set, Isner continued the same impressive rich vein of form, continuing with the unlikely backhand winners, sometimes crosscourt passing shots and down-the-line shots. In the end, it was Roddick’s weak service game that ended up being the decisive factor but in my mind, Isner played the better tennis by far, high in the winners count and doing significantly better than Roddick in this category while keeping his errors down. It was quite possibly the cleanest set of tennis that I’ve seen Isner play before, and the question is how often he is capable of playing like this. It’s a high risk game he plays, and I suppose it’s not necessary that he keeps up this consistency when he has the serve to back it up. He just needs to put it all together in a short space of time, and his serve will take care of the rest.

If Isner gets a shot that’s anywhere near his strike zone, he can rip forehands and follow it up at the net in a few big strides. I really like that one-two punch, the big shot followed by the volley into the open court. It’s one of my favourite things about watching him.

His net coverage is spectacular basically because of his wingspan where it’s pretty much impossible to get a ball past him. I’d say if you were looking to pass him, the better option would be to dip the ball low at his feet, make the big man bend down, which isn’t really one of Roddick’s strengths. Technically his volleys are also quite good. I’d back him to win any rally where he can get a racquet on it and a clean hit on it against most players.

Isner’s game hasn’t always been like this. He used to be far more inconsistent from the back of the court that it was difficult to get a sense of what he was trying to do on the court. I think a year or two ago he wasn’t as aware of how to use his strengths, or just as much how to manage the weaknesses in his game. It surely has helped that he is now more consistent than he used to be, that he can maintain a rally for a couple of shots to allow for this newfound patience to come through, to wait for the right ball to rip for a scorching winner. The way he has started to tailor his game towards his strengths more reminds me a bit of how Sam Stosur has improved her game on the women’s tour to revolve more around her serve, forehand and volleys.

But one thing that has always been there with Isner is his competitive spirit, and he needed it more than ever today battling through fatigue. Anyone watching this match would have thought that the match was slipping by Isner, but Isner maintained his positivity and belief through all of that and pulled out the victory. He had to battle through his own inconsistency, cramps, the pressure of having to hold onto his own serve and fighting through break points and he came out on top on all accounts. I've always liked his positive body language, and those low-key but assertive clenched fists that he does in between points.

When you’re feeling tired, it’s easy for it to cloud your decision making and to try to opt for that quick exit. Isner had that one service game at the end of the fourth set, and almost at the start of the fifth set but he found his best serves when he needed it just like he had all match. Could Isner really win five more service games in that kind of condition? Isner must have a really strong mind to be able to maintain his focus on trying to do what he does best with full commitment and intensity, and with his game struggling increasingly, he needed to put an even bigger effort to compensate.

Isner is a big match player and he thrives playing in front of big crowds, yet he had never proven himself in a match of this magnitude. The tie-break that he played in the fifth set was quite amazing given the circumstances, like a demonstration of mind over matter. And when he most needed it when it finally came down to crunch time, he was still as cool as under pressure as he had been all match playing two of the best volleys you could play under those circumstances to win the biggest match in his career.