John Isner has won more matches in his last three tournaments as he had in 2021 combined heading into the North American hard-court summer.
Prior to arriving in Los Cabos, Isner was 9-6 for the season. The 36-year-old American reached the semifinals at that event and is now on an eight-match winning streak that includes his sixth Atlanta title and run to the quarters of the National Bank Open. He maintained his fine form with a 6-4, 7-6(5) upset of Andrey Rublev on Thursday afternoon in Toronto.
Isner fired 20 aces while double-faulting only once and he saved all four of the break points he faced to improve to 3-0 lifetime against Rublev.
“The conditions were a bit tough on center court; it’s been a little bit swirly,” the world No. 30 explained. “I did know that Andrey was struggling with that. He was a little bit off kilter from the very get-go, I think. I could tell he was exhibiting some frustration out there.
“When I knew that he was a bit rattled early on, I just told myself I had to be the one to keep a cooler head. I think that helped me prevail in the end.”
Isner still has a ways to go before he catches up to Casper Ruud’s current winning streak. The 22-year-old Norwegian, who defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-3 in the Toronto third round, has won 14 matches in succession. This stretch is highlighted by consecutive ATP 250 clay-court titles in Bastad, Gstaad, and Kitzbuhel.
Impressively, Ruud is making a strong transition to hard courts.
“I think I’m motivated to come back to the hard courts,” Toronto’s No. 6 seed commented. “I have had two very good matches here. It’s a great start for me to the hard-court swing.
“I think there are many things you do to kind of change your game style from clay to hard. You can try to flatten out the shots a bit, maybe use the slice a bit more. You can block some returns here and there and come to the net a little bit more.
“For now I prefer to play the rallies from the baseline. But to mix up with some slices can be good, to keep the ball low on the surface. I think the courts here are pretty fast this year, so it’s definitely something I’m trying to do.”
Ruud will try to remain on a roll when he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday. Isner is going up against Gael Monfils.
nice one, Isner