Isner continues ascent with win over Harrison

Alex Smith/BB&T Atlanta Open

John Isner says that he really loves to play at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The 33-year-old has won it five times. While the top players don’t go there, still, there are enough very good competitors to make it a fun stop to kick off the US Open Series.

When Isner is mentally down, he can lose against the top dogs, but when he is into it, he can jump over almost anyone.

Isner defeated Ryan Harrison 5-7 6-3 6-4, a very close match. Both of them – especially Isner – have big serves. But, the real question is who will return well and deep. Fortunately, over the last four months, Isner has returned just a little bit better, which is why he won Miami, and he reached the semis at Wimbledon. He is ranked No. 9 and possibly — and I mean possibly given that it took him so long to reach a Grand Slam semis — he could go very deep at the US Open. First, there are some very important tournaments, such as the ATP 1000s at Toronto and Cincinnati. These 1000s can carve up all but the best. Almost of the top players will be there, except for the great Roger Federer, who won’t play Toronto. His body isn’t ready yet.

Isner is playing again this week, in Washington, but skipping his hometown tourney in Winston-Salem again. The DC is a 64 draw, and they have decided to use 16 seeds. Come on people, how about just 8 seeds, and make it even more exciting, even earlier. The No. 3 Alexander Zverev is the top seed and defending champ.

This is a strong field for a 500 with Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, David Goffin, Hyeon Chung and … Nick Kyrgios, who just retired, two days ago in Atlanta.

US Open Series starts for women in California

Over in San Jose, which used to be at Stanford for many years, and it was many fine matches, some incredible ones. This week, both of the Williams sisters  will play, as will top-seeded Garbine Muguruza,  Vika Azarenka, Madison Keys and Elise Mertens, among others.

On Tuesday, Serena Williams has to face Jo Konta, which should be fascinating because both of them will say that they are not playing great this season. Serena returned in March due to the birth of her daughter, and former top-10er Konta has been up and down on court. For the most part, Konta has been shaky. But, if she can focus and not think about why she is overhitting, she can be more effective.

If Azarenka wins today against Kateryna Bondarenko — and that is not an automatic as the veteran is pretty smart — she would play Muguruza on Wednesday night. Both of these two have won two Slams, so while on certain days they get frustrated and lose, still, when they are feeling just fine, they can crush the balls and touch the lines. If they meet, that is.

Look for Isner to take Atlanta again

Here are our predictions for the BB&T Atlanta final.

It’s déjà all over again as John Isner faces Ryan Harrison in the Atlanta final, just like they did 52 weeks ago.

Isner won 7-6(6), 7-6(7) but the score doesn’t reflect the story; the tall American had a stunning 23/1 aces to double faults, while Harrison was only 10/4. Isner also won eight more points, not a huge number but significant in a match with two very close tiebreaks.

Both players needed three sets to take their semis. today While a bit hot, conditions here were quite pleasant compared to some of the scorchers that have plagued players before. That might have contributed to Isner’s occasional discomfort, as he banged a racquet when he dropped the second set to Matthew Ebden, one of a couple of rare outbursts. Harrison floundered in the first set, dropping it 6-2, but then made the most of numerous ill-timed double faults by Cameron Norrie to win in three sets.

While Isner has a better head-to-head record of 7-3, Harrison holds a notable edge on outdoor hard courts, winning three of their four matches. The last hard-court meeting was in Acapulco this year with a straight-set win for Harrison.

What does that mean for tomorrow’s Atlanta final? Not much. Why … because Isner is on a roll. He’s coming off his magnificent achievement of reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon. He won Miami on hard courts. But, most importantly, this is Atlanta. Isner is not unbeatable here but he’s reached eight of the nine finals in the Georgia capital. He’s got four titles and his focusing on his fifth. We like Isner in two tight sets … just like a year ago. 

Isner, Harrison aiming for Atlanta repeat


Here are our predictions for the BB&T Atlanta Open semifinals:

John Isner vs. Matthew Ebden

It’s nearly impossible to go against Isner in Atlanta. The former Univ. of Georgia Bulldog has waltzed his way to the semis in each of his nine trips to Atlanta and took home four oblong bronze trophies in 2013-2015 and 2017. He’s 3-1 over Australian Ebden, with the only loss coming in this year’s Australian Open first round. So, the Wimbledon semifinalist has something to prove today.

The 30-year-old Ebden has seen his ranking peak earlier this month at No. 43. Besides Isner, he’s taken down Sam Querrey, Gilles Simon and Frances Tiafoe on hard courts this year. He has had a decent record in the Georgia capital.

But, that won’t help him much against the big Isner serve and what amounts to a home crowd. Isner in straight sets.

Ryan Harrison vs. Cameron Norrie

The ever-perplexing Harrison comes into the tournament ranked No. 53, having hit his best ever a year ago at No. 40. Over the past 18 months he has won one tournament – 2017 Memphis – and reached the final last year here in Atlanta and in ’18 Brisbane. Considering this run of success, the fact that he has only produced top results at 250 tournaments has slowed his progress. He has won only three Grand Slam matches this year and went without a victory in Indian Wells and Miami. He’s only 26 but the question remains: Will he ever break into the Top 20?

Norrie may not have Harrison’s pedigree but he is on the way up. A year ago he was No. 275; now he’s at a career high of No. 73. The Brit (but with long-time New Zealand roots) has 2018 wins over Isner and Robin Haase … along with Harrison’s younger brother, Christian. His left-handed game can give Ryan some issues but Harrison has experience here.

Harrison had to dig deep to overcome Hyeon Chung in the quarters. Figure Harrison will have to fight again and we see him winning in three sets.

Federer, Raonic, the Americans, Kvitova, Garcia and more…

Notes on A Draw Sheet, Feb. 20, 2018

Roger Federer keeps going, and going, and going. Last Sunday, he won Rotterdam, crushing Grigor Dimitrov. The 36-year-old Federer is No. 1 again!!! He’s been at the top for a record 303 weeks and counting … and he started 14 years ago after he won Wimbledon for the first time. Last year, he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. This year, he won the Aussie again. He has won 97 events. Ka-boom.

I cannot imagine that he won’t reach 100 victories, assuming if he stays healthy. He is trying not to play too much this year. He decided not to play in Dubai, but he will return at Indian Wells and very likely Miami. After that, he won’t on clay until very late, if at all. In 2017, he skipped the spring clay-court season, including Roland Garros. Federer says that he isn’t sure whether he will head to Paris again. That is a toss-up — a big toss up — for now …

Milos Raonic has been hurt forever, but when he is feeling good, he can beat the top almost anyone, except for the top 5. He just won his first match this year, beating Taro Daniel in Delray Beach. He has improved a lot over the past two years, especially his backhand. But, he has to figure out why his body breaks down all the time. I am sure the doctors know what he has to do, but the Canadian doesn’t know how he can fix it, and really listen what they are saying. We know this week in Florida … 

American John Isner beat Radu Albot, which is good, because in January and early February, he really wasn’t there on court. He just won his first win of the season on Tuesday, except for Davis Cup. That is pretty surprising. Hopefully, he will begin to win more regularly …
 
Juan Martin del Potro also won, and will face American Frances Tiafoe, a young player who can really run, but needs to be more aggressive …

Ryan Harrison had a taxing week at the inaugural NY Open. He successfully dealt with Donald Young’s accusation that Harrison had made a racial comment. The two feisty and long-time competitors got into a heated argument during their match and the chair umpire had to step between them. But, an ATP investigation did not uncover any missteps by Harrison. In Delray Beach, Harrison lost yesterday against countryman Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 7-6(6). It may take some time for Harrison to put it all behind him …

What a triumph by the two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who won in Doha, knocking out the No. 3 Garbine Muguruza in the final. She is back in the top 10. She also beat Elina Svitolina and No. 1 Caro Wozniacki 7-5 in the third. Kvitova is so powerful, and now she isn’t giving in. She is on a roll, also winning St. Petersburg and the Fed Cup. Without a doubt, she can win a major again. At RG — yes, she did reach the semis once before — and of course at Wimbledon, and at the US Open. Bu,t she has to be healthy all the time …

Angie Kerber was not happy after she lost against Wozniacki, but still, over the past seven weeks, she has become substantially better. Last year, she couldn’t find her game. Now, she is settled and defending with her blazing speed. Watch her come back into the top 5 during March. She smoked Barbora Strycova 6-2, 6-1 …

Another fine win by Anett Kontaveit, who beat Sam Stosur in three sets. She is pretty young and she is improving week to week. Caroline Garcia continues to display a blossoming game , beating Lucie Safarova. Frenchwoman Garcia realizes that she can move up to the net and put away easy shots. She does it frequently, transferring her doubles talent to singles. If she continues to do so, she will have a chance to win a major this year. Maybe at RG?

Who’s hot! Sharapova, Nadal voted sexiest again

nadal_300Thanks to our very loyal and active readers and for the thousands of votes we received. We love the responses.

Maria Sharapova is on a roll, winning now for the third straight year. However, boyfriend Grigor Dimtrov, who was voted sexiest last year, came in second. He lost out to three-time winner Rafa Nadal, who also was the hottest in 2011 & 2012.

Tennis’ hottest couple, Maria Sharapova and Grigor Dimtrov, won it in 2014.

The awards were named for Ivanovic and Safin whose notable sexiness helped them capture the awards for the first five years of the poll, 2005-2009. They were declared ineligible after the awards were named for them.

Results of all seven 2014 TennisReporters.net awards are listed below:

Sexiest
Male Player

Results

Rafael Nadal 35%
Grigor Dimitrov 23%
Roger Federer 12%
Feliciano Lopez 8%
Novak Djokovic 6%
Ernests Gulbis 6%
Nick Kygrios 4%
Tommy Haas 3%
Fabio Fagnini 2%
Ryan Harrison 1%

Sexiest
Female Player

Results

Maria Sharapova 35%
Eugenie Bouchard 17%
Victoria Azarenka 13%
Caroline Wozniacki 12%
Serena Williams 8%
Maria Kirlenko 6%
Alize Lim 5%
Dominika Cibulkova 2%
Karolina Pliskova 2%
Sloane Stephens 1%

ATP Coach of the Year

Results

Magnus Norman /
Stan Wawrinka
33%
Stefan Edberg /
Roger Federer
29%
Michael Chang /
Kei Nishikori
26%
Toni Nadal /
Rafael Nadal
5%
Boris Becker /
Novak Djokovic
4%
Goran Ivanisevic /
Marin Cilic
4%

WTA Coach of the Year

Results

Carlos Rodriguez /
Li Na
49%
Patrick Mouratoglou /
Serena Williams
19%
Wim Fissette /
Simona Halep
12%
Sven Groeneveld /
Maria Sharapova
10%
Nick Saviano /
Eugenie Bouchard
7%
David Kotyza /
Petra Kvitova
3%

ATP Breakthrough Kid of the Year
(24 or younger)

Results

Kei Nishikori 65%
Grigor Dimitrov 15%
Dominic Thiem 8%
Milos Raonic 6%
David Goffin 6%

WTA Breakthrough Kid of the Year
(21 or younger)

Results

Eugenie Bouchard 49%
Belinda Bencic 23%
Garbine Muguruza 16%
Zarina Diyas 6%
Madison Keys 6%

Tweeter of the Year

Results

Laura Robson 30%
Roger Federer 19%
Stan Wawrinka 15%
Tomas Berdych 12%
Serena Williams 8%
Caroline Wozniacki 6%
Maria Sharapova 5%
Andy Murray 3%
Eugenie Bouchard 2%
Grigor Dimitrov 1%

Hewitt resurgence continues in Atlanta

Lleyton Hewitt’s summer rise up the rankings continued on Friday as he rebounded from losing a 17-minute first set to Ivan Dodig of Croatia and advanced to the semifinals of the BB&T Atlanta Open, a ATP World Tour 250 event.

The 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 win, means another showdown with John Isner on Saturday.  The pair met two weeks ago in the Newport semis with Hewitt winning.

Hewitt attributes his run this summer to his body feeling the best it has in a number of years. “My body is holding up well, it hasn’t been a problem.  Even though it’s hot and humid here, the match was a fairly short three-set match.”

After dropping the first set, the two-time major champion converted on four of five break-point opportunities to win going away.

“At the start of the match, I couldn’t get it into it much,” admitted Hewitt. “But then I just wanted to stay in the games and hold serve. I played a good game at 4-3 to break and then I was able to get some cheap points.”

Another key to the victory for the Australian, Hewitt improved his 43 percent first serve percentage from his previous matches to 57% for the Dodig match.

In the second afternoon semifinal, top seed Isner defeated fellow American James Blake 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5) in 1 hour and 27 minutes, setting up a rematch with Hewitt and a match that many in Atlanta wanted to see once the draw came out.

“Coming to this tournament, it’s my fourth year, I always seem to have incredible support,” offered up Isner, the world No. 22.  “I do have some roots in this vicinity with going to school so close here, and given how many Bulldog alumni live in Atlanta.

The first set featured both players holding serve throughout and not one break point.  Nobody on the ATP World Tour has played more tiebreaks than Isner and he showed why his is so comfortable in breakers by being dominant on serve and then taking chances on the serve return. When he connects on serve returns in a tiebreak –where every point matters — Isner is just about unbeatable.

Blake jumped out to a quick break in the second set and looked in command until he played a sloppy service game at 4-2. As with any Isner match, it always comes down to a crucial point or two, and a tiebreak.

“His serve doesn’t give you any rhythm,” said Blake. “It comes down to a couple points every time I play him, and I didn’t play those well.”

Isner/Hewitt match-up

Isner with a 1-4 career mark against Hewitt said he’s looking forward to playing Hewitt, but he needs to serve well.

“His return of serve is incredible,” said Isner after the match. “He gets his racquet on the ball and he competes.”

Although his younger brother, Christian, has received most of the attention this week, Ryan Harrison was looking to garner some of his own as he took on Santiago Giraldo of Colombia in the first quarterfinal of the evening session.

Playing inspired tennis, Harrison scored the only break of the opening set and with that break in hand, the American leaned on his serve to close out a 6-3 first set.

The Colombian raised his level of play to start the second and Harrison threw in a sloppy service game early in the set to fall behind.  Harrison wouldn’t see a breakpoint in set two and one ball felt the wrath of the Louisiana native and landed out on the I75/I85 downtown connector in Atlanta, while Giraldo closed out the set 6-3.

Giraldo again jumped out on top in the deciding set, and Harrison squandered break points in games three and five.  A tiring Giraldo ended up giving back the break mid-set and with no further breaks, Harrison was dominant in the tiebreak, taking it 7-2, and the match 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2).

All in all, Harrison was pleased with the effort and is happy to be making another final four appearance in Atlanta.

“I played well, other than that service game at 3-4 when I missed a couple balls, I guess I got broken,” explained Harrison. “The only dip I had, those three or four games and them when I broke in the third set. Other than that, I feel great.”

Next up for Harrison, a matchup with tournament No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson.  Anderson won a tight three-setter against Denis Istomin on Saturday night 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Even though Harrsion gives away six years, eight inches, and over 100 ranking spots to the South African, they both turned pro in 2007, and are both playing some of their best tennis of the year in Atlanta.

Amazingly enough, these two have never met in an ATP, Challenger, Futures or qualifying tournament.

The 4 p.m. match on Saturday featuring Hewitt and Isner will air on ESPN2 and the Anderson vs. Harrison semi will run at 8 p.m. on Tennis Channel.

BNP Paribas Open-Indian Wells Match of the Day: Nadal [regretfully] returns to hard courts and defeats Ryan Harrison

Nadal IW 11 MALT6807

Rafa says hard courts are too hard on the body.

INDIAN WELLS- Former Indian Wells champion Rafael Nadal, who has won just about every significant hard court title in the book, is no longer a fan of playing on softened concrete. On Saturday at Indian Wells, he won his first match on hard courts in nearly a year with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Ryan Harrison, who actually played as well as he has since Sydney. But nonetheless, Nadal won the big points, dictated when he had to and their were only a few moments when it looked like he might be in trouble. Harrison mixed up his attack nicely, and tried to make the net his best friend, but Nadal passes like a monster and unless Harrison hit outstanding approach shots, the Spaniard whizzed balls by him.

As Nadal said, he played well enough to win, which means getting ball in the center of the court and yanking his foe around until he can run no more. His depth was decent, his power was substantial, and perhaps most importantly , he didn’t think that much about his knees. There were those during the Latin America clay court swing who said that he wouldn’t play Indian Wells, that he would not attempt to play on hard courts, but they were wrong and he did and while he cannot be called a favorite in this tournament, that he was able to handily beat Harrison and not come off the court aching means he is likely is good to go for at least a few matches.

Bury Isner’s AO chances on his wounded knee?

Isner 2nd week prospects don't look good.

Isner’s 2nd week prospects don’t look good.

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Isner was great in Davis Cup but struggled in the majors.

Wimbledon Picks: 10 predictions for opening day

Berdych, the 2010 finalist, has matured.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC VS. JUAN CARLOS FERRERO This match might be complicated for a while as Ferrero is skilled veteran who can still play well in patches, but Djokovic does everything a little better than he does and will come through in three sets, two of them which will be tight. This might be former NO. 1 JCF’s last Wimby so take glance while you still can.

MARIA SHARAPOVA VS. ANASTASIA RODIONOVA Who would have thought that after Victoria Azarenka thrashed her in the Aussie and Indian Wells finals that the Russian would begin to develop the look of a player that could stay at No.1 for a decent stretch? Rodionova is too inconsistent to stay with Sharapova and will fall quickly, and loudly, given her temper.

TOMAS BERDYCH VS. ERNESTS GULBIS The All England club did a good job of picking this match as the third one on Centre as if Gulbis pays well he can make this a tight and very entertaining contest. Let