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John Isner scripted a sensational come from behind victory over Juan Martin Del Potro to reach only the second ATP World Tour Masters Series finals of his career. The American was just a point away from a straight set defeat, before reinvigorating himself to score a stunning 6-7(5), 7-6(9), 6-3 victory after nearly three hours of thrilling battle against the world No.7. Isner will play Rafael Nadal in the finals on Sunday. The Spaniard defeated Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the second semi-finals. Isner has scored three top ten victories this week – taming Milos Raonic, Novak Djokovic and now Del Potro.
Playing inside the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Isner held serve with an ace to get the match off the blocks. Del Potro responded with an ace of his own, before holding serve thanks to a couple of errors from his opponent. Isner survived a double fault in the third game, keeping play on serve with yet another ace. While Del Potro was the steadier of the two, Isner continued to flirt with danger.
At game point in the fifth game, Isner threw in a double fault. But an ace and a Del Potro forehand that sailed too long saved any immediate damage to the American. Isner saved a break point, the only one of the first set, in the seventh game with a thumping forehand down the line winner to ensure that the game remained on serve.
Eventually, the first set remained dead even at 6-6, forcing the players to decide it over a tie-breaker. In the breaker, one that began with a pair of aces from either player, there wasn’t a sign of a break with both players knotted together at 3-3. The breaker remained on serve as Del Potro earned his first set at 6-5 with a forehand cross court winner.
Isner stoic till this point, suddenly wilted. Serving to stay in the set, Isner delivered a good serve down the middle but Del Potro managed a return to force the rally. The American ran to the net, aiming to finish the point, only to dump a backhand volley in the net to hand the set to the Argentine.
Del Potro was only marginally superior in the first set – but the fact that he lost just six points on his serve compared to 13 points for Isner enabled him get in the head of Isner. And then Isner fumbled exactly when it mattered to surrender the advantage to the tower of Tandil. To be fair, Isner had to crouch low to reach for the backhand due to his height and that caused the untimely error.
In the second set, it was Isner again who was treated to an early test. At 40-15 in the fourth game, Isner made a couple of errors to fall back to deuce. A double fault offered break point to the Argentine, but Isner wiped it clean with a thundering ace. The highest ranked American produced a couple of forehand winners to avert an early break in the second set.
At the other end, Del Potro was zipping through his service games at a steady clip, never seriously troubled by Isner’s return game. Opportunity smiled at Del Potro in the eighth game. Isner crashed his forehand into the net to offer a break point, but saved it with a high kick serve on the next point. Isner dug a hole for himself when he made successive errors on the next two points to surrender a 5-3 advantage to Del Potro.
Serving for the set, Del Potro plunged the stadium into a bout of aroused anarchy when he double faulted at match point to give Isner a second life. The emboldened Isner struck a forehand return winner followed by another winner off his backhand to retrieve the break and get the set back on serve. The game was back on serve, but Isner had to survive a deuce point before holding to 5-5 in the second set.
Buoyed by his survival, Isner troubled Del Potro on his service in the next game. Only some big serving – a service winner and an ace to save the first two, followed by a gentle drop shot to save the third break point allowed the Argentine to keep his nose ahead at 6-5. Isner served with the urgency of a man possessed to hurry the set into another tie-breaker.
Del Potro began the breaker with a double fault and Isner consolidated with an ace to take a 2-0 lead. But a muffed forehand enabled Del Potro to retrieve the mini-break immediately. Isner found the range on his forehand cross court on the next point to gain another mini-break, gaining a 3-1 advantage. The Argentine made a brilliant backhand return winner to get back to 3-4.
At 5-5, Isner struck an ace to gain the first of five set points. Del Potro fought hard to prevent Isner from forcing a third set, but a double fault at 8-8 only helped Isner gain a fourth opportunity to take the second set. A forehand down the line winner kept the set alive, but Isner garnered a fifth set point with another ace. The set was finally over when Del Potro flailed a forehand out of the court. It lasted an hour and 11 minutes, just the second set.
Maybe it was the relief of staying in the match; Isner offered two break points to Del Potro in the very first game of the final set. Awakened by the danger of slipping behind, Isner saved both points only to offer a third when he dumped a forehand volley in the net. Egged on by an entire stadium of Americans, Isner managed to raise his game to score three straight winners to hold serve.
Del Potro began the second game with a double fault and Isner made him pay with an early break when Del Potro added to his woes with a couple of errors to gift away the advantage to Isner. Incredibly, Isner started the third game with a pair of double faults only to recover with a hat-trick of aces to hold serve for a commanding 3-0 lead in the third set.
Del Potro survived a pair of break points in the sixth game to remain within striking distance from his surging opponent. Isner though was in devastating serving form – striking his 22nd and 23rd aces of the match to hold serve and take the match in the ninth game. Isner struck as many as 63 winners in an action packed match that turned on its head with that double fault from Del Potro on match point at 5-3 in the second set.
“I’ve been winning a lot of matches this summer,” said Isner. “I feel like this tournament here is where I’m really starting to put it all together. I’ve beaten three Top 10 guys in a row. For me to do that, I have been playing well, really in pretty much all facets of my game. There’s definitely some stuff I can always improve on, but I do think I’m playing well.”
