Journalist Cheryl Jones shares her observations about the fast-serving John Isner.
John Isner is six foot ten inches tall and has a serve that is nearly impossible to return. It has been the center of his game, and that game has taken him as high as 9 in the Emirates’ rankings. He isn’t the tallest man on the professional tennis tour, Ivo Karlovic is an inch taller and Karlovic has a killer serve, too. (I once saw a match where Karlovic served forty-five aces in a best of two out of three sets match at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. It was breathtaking.) If one understands a bit about angles, it can help one grasp just why there is often no way to affect a return on balls that could be struck from nearly ten feet off the ground by anyone the height of Isner. With merely a modicum of spin on a serve, it can either careen up-up and away, or it can scoot along the ground at a terrific pace, leaving no room to strike it because it is literally too near the court’s surface.
Sunday at Roland Garros, thirty-two year old Isner was out-tall-ed by a twenty-one year old Russian by the name of Karen Khachanov, 7-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6. The Russian is six feet six, and even though Isner has four inches on him, the Russian appears to be quicker on his feet and all in all, a more complete player than Isner who played four years for the University of Georgia before becoming a professional player in late 2007.
Isner was the last US player in the men’s singles. All eleven Americans are out. The last American to win here was Andre Agassi in 2000. It looks as if the US may have to keep an eye out for a youngster who can slide about the court and serve. There could be a few prospects in the Junior ranks that begin their week-long play here in Paris. Only time can provide an answer to that seemingly age-old question for the US players.
Khachanov is the youngest man to reach the round of sixteen here in Paris this year. He turned twenty-one May 21st. (Marin Cilic reached the last sixteen when he was twenty years and twenty days old in 2009.) Khachanov had some phenomenal matches over the past week as he defeated qualifier Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 and top-notch Czech player, (ranked 14 in the Emirate Rankings), Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 on his journey to the Round of Sixteen.
Next up on the docket for Khachanov will be Andy Murray. Murray, who is Number One on the rankings list, will have to be on his toes when he faces the young Russian. There is something about Khachanov’s manner of competing that may surprise anyone who comes up against him. That something is rather amorphous. It could be that his game seems well founded, though. There is no question about it. He isn’t tentative. He moves fluidly about the court along with that great serve. In June of last year, he moved into the top 100. He came to Paris ranked 53, after a career-high ranking of 42 in May of this year. If today was a measure of his tenacity, it should be a great match. They will face off tomorrow, because today’s match was a continuation of Saturday’s match that was halted when rain closed down the courts.
Isner spoke after his loss and ever the upbeat individual, couldn’t bring himself to curse the rain delay. He said, “I just didn’t get it done.” Reflecting on the fourth set where the Russian looked a bit shaky, Isner seemed clear about where his chances had been there for the taking. He said, “I had a handful of chances. And, if I could have kind of kicked the door open there, I think it could have changed the outcome.” That seemed to be one of those “shoulda, coulda, woulda” kind of afterthoughts.
Isner is headed home tomorrow to take a bit of a rest before heading to London later this month. It is a certainty that he will spend some time looking back at what he missed when he was on court today. He has the ability to change how he plays on clay, but now it may not make much difference. At thirty-two, even the best of players aren’t usually able to reinvent their playing style.
Wimbledon is up next and the lawns don’t behave the same as clay. It’s not a different game. It merely is a different surface. His memories of playing on the lawn may or may not be fond. In 2010, he and Nicolas Mahut contested the longest match in the esteemed tournament’s history. In the first round, over three days, they played for 11 hours and 5 minutes in their last set that was finally over at 70-68 with Isner on top.
Tall fellows often have an untouchable serve. What I could say as an observer is that Isner shouldn’t change his serve, but he should add some variety to his play that could expand his game after that serve is struck. There is more to tennis than the ability to serve. That’s why the top players aren’t the tall ones. It helps, but motion, fitness and variety play an extremely important role.
Wimbledon begins on July 3rd this year. There’s still time for Isner to lock in some new moves and make changes that could propel him further into that draw. He was a four time NCAA All American at Georgia and he could be an all time world-class player if only he had a little more to his game than a serve.
