Atlanta final preview and prediction: Isner vs. Harrison

A trip to the BB&T Atlanta Open title match is nothing new for John Isner. Neither is going up against Ryan Harrison.

Isner will be playing the title match for the eighth time in the nine-year history of this tournament–and for the second straight time against Harrison–on Sunday evening. This marks their 11th career contest overall, with Isner leading the head-to-head series 7-3 thanks in part to his 7-6(6), 7-6(7) triumph in last summer’s final.

They have faced each other twice this season, with Harrison prevailing 6-3, 7-6(5) on the hard courts of Acapulco before Isner scored a 7-6(1), 7-6(7) victory on the red clay of Madrid. Despite his Atlanta setback, Harrison leads their hard-court series 3-2–including 3-1 outdoors.

“We virtually play tiebreakers every time we play,” the 26-year-old commented. “Every scoreline has been [like that] between [us]. It’s kind of a chess game; making sure that neither one of us flinch.”

Harrison has not flinched this week despite having his back against the wall on multiple occasions–in all four of his previous matches, to be exact. The world No. 53 has staged comebacks from a set down against James Duckworth, Lukas Lacko, Hyeon Chung, and Lukas Lacko.

Isner thrashed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2 in his opener before requiring three sets to hold off both Mischa Zverev and Alex de Minaur. The world No. 9 is an incredible 30-4 lifetime in Atlanta, including 22-1 in his last 23 matches. This is without question the best season of Isner’s career and he is Nitto ATP finals contention thanks to a recent semifinal run at Wimbledon to go along with a Masters 1000 title in Miami.

“To be honest the match was ugly,” Isner said after beating Ebden 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. “It was like two wounded ducks out there—something was ailing him…his neck, shoulder, or something…and I was pretty spent. My legs just weren’t quite there today, I had some uncharacteristic things happening–two double-faults in the tiebreaker…. I think I can definitely get ready for tomorrow; I need a lot of sleep and water and food and to put my feet up as much as I can.”

Two wounded ducks could also be the story on Sunday due to Isner’s semifinal struggle, Harrison’s quartet of three-setters, and the fact that Harrison also had to play a doubles semifinal on Saturday night. Still, the underdog is confident.

“He feels comfortable here here; this has also been my most successful event,” Harrison noted. “I feel just as confident as he does, so I’m ready.”

“There are no secrets there (between me and Harrison),” Isner assured. “We’re good friends and it’ll be a rematch of last year, so it’ll be cool.”

Isner is basically impossible to bet against in Atlanta, and in battle featuring two wounded competitors he is the one who has a much easier time of ending points quickly as owner of perhaps the best serve in the game.

Pick: Isner in 2

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