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CINCINNATI – With seven of the world’s top ten players missing from the draw and Nadal crashing out in the quarterfinals, this year’s semifinals at the Western Southern Open in Cincinnati included an unusual line-up. All four semifinalists were ranked outside the top ten but nonetheless provided an interesting mix of talent, contrasting styles and distinctive looks. Despite the absence of the Fab Four, the semifinal clash between John Isner of the United States and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria mesmerized the local crowd.
Standing at 6’10”, Big John is arguably one of the most impressive servers on tour and always a fan favorite here in the United States. Formerly known for a very similar playing style to that of Roger Federer, throughout the years Grigor Dimitrov has become one of the most popular players on the ATP tour and a fixture in sports tabloids thanks to his off-court relationships with celebrities such as Maria Sharapova and Nicole Scherzinger. Both John and Grigor have been in the top 20 of the ATP rankings for most of their careers but neither of them have broken through to a major title. Isner is best known for his marathon match against Nicolas Mahut in the first round at Wimbledon in 2010. Grigor is mostly known for his dashing good looks and has been a star waiting in the wings for a few years. He has the talent and charisma that the tour has been waiting for to take over the reins from the kings protecting the castle.
Saturday’s match started off with both players holding serve comfortably. Everyone knows that Isner can avoid dropping serve for days, but the question was whether or not Dimitrov could consistently hold on to his own serve while also figuring out how to disrupt the American’s massive weapon.
Grigor answered those questions by only facing two break points in the entire match, while Isner returned the favor by only facing one break point. A first set tie-breaker was inevitable. Once in the breaker, the odds were against Dimitrov but the Bulgarian held his ground: As soon as Isner missed his first serve at 2-2, Dimitrov passed him with a beautiful down-the-line backhand and never looked back, capturing the breaker with the score of 7-4.
The second set followed the same pattern as the first, with both players holding on to their service games and improving their percentage of points won with their second delivery. At 5-4 Dimitrov was finally able to make inroads on Isner’s serve and held a match-point, which the American promptly erased with a 135-mph service bomb.
At this point, the match turned into an exciting battle that enthralled the Cincinnati crowd. The serve became less dominant and the two players engaged in spectacular rallies that featured the American’s powerful forehand and the Bulgarian’s natural talent. In a stunning second set tie-breaker that ended 12 points to 10 in Dimitrov’s favor, Grigor saved two set points before finally closing out the match at the fourth opportunity.
On Sunday Dimitrov will compete in his first Masters 1000 final. On the other side of the net, he will find Nick Kyrgios of Australia – one of the brightest and most controversial young stars on the ATP Tour.
