Big man tennis: Isner, Raonic win first match together in Indian Wells

The John Isner-Milos Raonic doubles partnership began as just about anyone would have expected: with a flurry of huge serves north of 140 mph, zero breaks of serve donated by the North American duo, and multiple tiebreakers. Most importantly, it also resulted in a win for Isner and Raonic, who fought past the British team of Andy Murray and Colin Fleming 7-5, 6-7(5), 10-8 in round one of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday afternoon.

Murray and Fleming got a look at eight break-point chances but they could not convert on any occasion. Isner and Raonic fought off three in the first set and five more in the second. The only break of the entire match came when Fleming cracked at 5-6 in the opener, double-faulting on the deciding deuce point.

The North Americans gave back mini-breaks twice in the second-set tiebreaker. They did the same in the super-tiebreaker, although that was due more to the fact that Murray and Fleming clobbered impressive returns of booming first serves. A clutch return of Isner’s own led to what proved to be the decisive mini-break at 8-8. With a match point on his serve, the 6’10” American blasted an ace out wide in the ad court past a hapless Murray.

“It was a great pleasure to play with Milos,” Isner said afterward. “This was our first time together. I’m sure next time we’re on court we’ll be a lot more comfortable.”

That could be especially bad news for their next opponents, because Isner and Raonic were in outstanding form throughout their first match together. They combined for only six aces, but unreturned serves were too plentiful to count. Isner’s backhand return also impressed, just as it did in a recent Davis Cup victory over Australia’s Sam Groth. Raonic struggled at times returning serves–what’s new?–but he did plenty of damage with forehands up the middle of the court.

There was a game within a game, as well. First, Isner and Raonic spun Isner’s racket to see who would serve first. The Canadian lost that honor, but he won the other contest: for fastest serve. At one point late in the second set he cracked one 145 mph–only to lose the point after Murray somehow blocked back an incredible return.

“It was a pleasure to play with John for the first time,” Raonic assured. “I don’t know if John was (paying attention to our serving speeds), but I saw there was one 140, then a 141, then a 142, then a 144. It was going back and forth.”

But it was Isner who hit the biggest serve of all, the ace on match point.

“Andy’s obviously one of the greatest returners in the world right now,” Isner explained, “so I just told myself I was going to pick a spot, and it worked–didn’t it?”