Nine years of the BB&T Atlanta Open. Eight final appearances for John Isner.
That is Isner’s incredible record at the tournament after he booked a spot in yet another title match with a 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1 victory over Matthew Ebden during semifinal action on Saturday afternoon. The No. 1 seed and defending champion fired 26 aces and benefited from a ridiculous 15 double-faults off Ebden’s racket to prevail in exactly two hours.
“That’s a pretty good record,” Isner said of his eight finals, the first seven of which resulted in four titles and three runner-up performances. “You know, it’s not Fed at Wimbledon. But again, I do love playing here.”
The world No. 9 would have liked it more on Saturday if he had finished Ebden off prior to a third set. It looked like Isner would do just that when he followed up a routine opening frame of play by breaking the fourth-seeded Australian for a 2-1 advantage in the second. Shockingly, though, Isner dropped serve in the following game and also lost the ensuing tiebreaker from a mini-break up at 3-1.
“That was frustrating,” the 6’10” American admitted. “I didn’t like how once I did get broken…my energy after that. My energy wasn’t great and that’s what cost me the second set…. I tried to give it away, but I was able to win so I’m happy about that.”
Isner won in part by raising his own level but mostly by taking advantage of a reeling opponent. Ebden had taken an injury timeout during the second set for an apparent right-shoulder injury and he was nothing short of hopeless throughout the third. The 30-year-old made only one first serve in the entire set (one out of 16 for six percent) and double-faulted five more times without striking an ace.
Thus Isner stumbled across the finish line despite clearly lacking energy–a problem he indicated was not related to the usual hot Atlanta conditions.
“It was fine,” he commented. “The heat, you expect that. It was more of a case of just being really tired. Even if it had been maybe 50 degrees, I would have felt that way as well.”
Next up for Isner is a rematch of the 2017 Atlanta final against fellow American Ryan Harrison, which Isner won 7-6(6), 7-6(7).
Harrison advanced by coming back from a set down in a fourth consecutive match, this time at the expense of Cameron Norrie. The world No. 53 got the job done 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, striking eight aces without double-faulting and breaking Norrie three times after winning only three total return points in the first set.
“You always feel concerned when you’re down a set, especially in a semi,” Harrison commented. “I was able to kind of walk that line between being engaged and…let’s just say outgoing and expressive. It didn’t affect my play negatively. It helped me get my energy going.”
On the upcoming title match, he added, “We virtually play tiebreakers every time we play. Every scoreline has been [like that] between [us]. It’s kind of a chess game; making sure that neither one of us flinch. The first guy who really blinks a little bit, throws in a double-fault, misses a couple of first balls, or something like that is usually going to be in a little bit of a hole.
“He feels comfortable here here; this has also been my most successful event. I feel just as confident as he does, so I’m ready.”
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