Here's Johnny! Isner emerges from the depths

John Isner is playing his best tennis when everyone least expected it.

Granted, Isner has always posted his best results at home in the United States, but otherwise his performance in this current Indian Wells-Miami swing has blindsided all witnesses.

After all, Isner’s record in 2015 stood at a dreadful 3-5 when he sank to what was arguably a new low for him during first-round Davis Cup action in Glasgow, Scotland. Before losing to Andy Murray in straight sets, the 6’10” American blew a two-set lead against heavy underdog James Ward and ultimately went down 15-13 in the fifth set. That match was without question the main reason why Team USA bowed out of the World Cup main draw right away.

But it is back home in the friendly confines of the United States where Isner has suddenly found the form–perhaps even better; time will tell–that had been on display in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The world No. 24 cruised through two matches at the BNP Paribas Open then fell to Novak Djokovic in one of the highest-quality matches of the tournament. He has been even better at the Miami Open, where his run to the semifinals includes defeats of Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, and Kei Nishikori.

While his ever-trustworthy serve has been dominant, it was Isner’s all-court game–yep, believe it–that turned heads in a not-even-as-close-as-the-score 6-4, 6-3 beatdown of Nishikori. The former University of Georgia star bludgeoned groundstrokes off both wings on Thursday, breaking serve once in each set and threatening to seize several more breaks. Of course, any additional scalps of the world No. 4’s serve were unnecessary because Isner faced no break points while blasting 13 aces compared to zero double-faults.

“It was a very good match,” Isner understated. “A lot of times, just to get to a situation to play like that, you have to win a match that maybe I couldn’t, shouldn’t have won, which was my last match… I played extremely well. I have nothing to complain about, that’s for sure.”

“I think he play really well today,” Nishikori said of his opponent. “On the serve, I didn’t have any chance. “Also, his forehand and backhand — he hit some winners from the back of the baseline. I couldn’t really stop him today. I don’t think I really played bad.”

“It’s the best two sets of tennis from start to finish that I’ve ever seen from the big fella,” gushed ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert, who added that he had “never come close to seeing him play that well”–especially from the back of the court.

More of the same will have to be showcased by the big fella if he wants to go one step further and reach the title match. Up next for Isner on Friday is another date with Djokovic, who is well aware of the danger Isner presents. The top-seeded Serb leads the head-to-head series 6-2, but three of his victories have come in final sets and his two losses occurred at Masters 1000 events on American soil (Indian Wells 2012, Cincinnati 2013).