John Isner produced a masterclass performance to end the impressive 15 match winning streak of Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1 7-6(2) to move into his first Miami Open final.
The 14th seeded American has been in fine fettle all week, and he started strongly against the somewhat weary Del Potro, breaking him immediately by targeting his backhand. On break point, Isner ran around his backhand and pounded his forehand into the Argentinean’s backhand wing several times, and came into the net to put away an easy forehand volley for a winner.
Del Potro found himself in trouble again, serving at deuce in the sixth game. A double fault yielded a break point, and Isner moved to 5-1 when the Argentinean’s mishit forehand sent the ball into orbit. Isner closed out the 26 minute set in the next game with an ace out wide, 6-1.
Games went comfortably with serve until 4-4 in the second set when Del Potro saved a break point with a service winner to roars of approval from the raucous Argentinean fans. He held serve minutes later and a tiebreak would eventually determine his fate.
Isner started off the breaker smoking hot; a stop volley winner, an ace out wide and a forehand winner into the backhand corner of Del Potro, gave the American 3-0 in double quick time. A 139mph ace up the centre gave Isner 5-2 and when he nailed a two handed backhand pass up the line to bring up 4 match points, the Argentinean fans were virtually silenced.
The American clinched the match on his first match point with a classy forehand drop volley winner and the two men embraced at the net as the audience applauded a great performance from Isner, and the departure of a great champion.
Isner served 13 aces, won 80% of the points off his first serve and converted 2 out of 3 break points, and did not face a break point in the entire match.
“I have the feeling that it was the case where he came out a little bit slow because he’s played so many matches, he’s literally running on fumes”, Isner said of Del Potro. “That was a big advantage for me. I was much fresher than him and I think that played a big role today, and I think also I did play my game well, so that certainly helped. He came into the match super confident, and even when you’re tired, you still find a way to win, so I knew he had that on his side.”
“I had a game plan, but it wasn’t what I was solely focused on”, Isner said when asked about whether his targeting of the Del Potro backhand was part of a preconceived game plan. “I prefer hitting my forehand inside out and my backhand cross court, and it just happens to go to his backhand. There was a game plan and I stuck to it pretty well. But more importantly than that, it was just a case of me playing good tennis out there and being relaxed which was crucial.”
Del Potro’s run at the final edition of the Miami Open at Key Biscayne has come to an end, but the Argentinean was upbeat despite the defeat. “I did a good tournament, and I go home with many things to celebrate”,he said. “John deserved to win today. He serves unbelievable. He plays great tennis on the tiebreak. He was too good for me.”
“He has a better serve than me, and when he plays as good as he did today, he’s one of the tougher guys on tour. I mean, not many players can return his serves. He plays every time making winners. When he has a good day, he has everything to win a title like this.”
“I’m so happy for these tournaments. I won Acapulco, also. It was my 16th match in a row. I think, in only one month that’s enough”, he said smiling.“I will have a good vacation, maybe a week or more days. Depends how I feel.”
When asked about the upcoming clay court season, Del Potro suggested that he would take a long break before playing tournaments before Roland Garros. “I’m not thinking about tennis anymore. It was enough, enough”, he said humorously. “But I would love to keep playing in this level on the clay court tournaments, but I don’t know when I’m going to start, because I need to prepare myself even better than hard court. And I want to stay healthy during the whole year. So maybe I will quit a few tournaments at the beginning and then be ready for Paris or maybe a tournament before.”
A signal that we may not see Del Potro again until Rome.
