Isner serves United States past Australia, into Davis Cup quarters

Even by John Isner’s standards, Sunday at the Kooyong Club in Melbourne witnessed a historic serving performance. The result was a Davis Cup quarterfinal berth for the United States and an early exit for Australia in Lleyton Hewitt’s first tie as captain.

Isner fired 49 aces in just four sets and did not double-fault a single time en route to a 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) victory over Bernard Tomic. On the heels of victories by Isner in singles on Friday and the Bryan Brothers in doubles on Saturday, Isner’s defeat of Tomic clinched a 3-1 triumph for the visiting team. The 6’10” American put in 76 percent of his first serves and at one point blasted a delivery that registered at 157 MPH on the radar gun.

The 157 MPH serve is a record at the main level in tennis history (ATP, Grand Slams, Davis Cup, and Olympics; excluding Challengers and Futures).

“It’s breathtaking to watch him serve the way he did,” USA captain Jim Courier said of Isner. “You know, Bernie I think is one of great return cover players in tennis. I think he gets so many balls back; he’s long, and for John to serve the amount of aces that he did today and to serve the quality high percentage that he did all day long in a match [in which] he obviously was feeling the pressure…. It’s Davis Cup last day–you’re going to feel it. He stepped up big for us. He’s done it for us in Davis Cup before and he did again today.”

“I was fighting, (but) he was serving ridiculous,” reflected Tomic, who dealt with an apparent wrist injury starting in the second set. “Not much you can do, just try guess the right side. I had so much pain in my wrist but I kept thinking about Davis Cup. No pain would stop me playing today. But I couldn’t really serve fast. It’s a shame.”

“In the end, Bernard was a little unlucky,” Hewitt noted. “He was holding his serve easier in the fourth set and had a mini-break in the tiebreaker as well. But John stepped up.”

United States press conference: