2011 Heineken Open: Defending champion John Isner moves into the last eight
American tennis giant John Isner played his first match of the 2011 ATP Tour on Wednesday as he returned to the 2011 Heineken Open to defend his title there. The Heineken Open is an ATP 250 event currently being played in the New Zealand capital, Auckland.
This is Isner’s first ATP event in 2011 since last week when the American competed at the 2011 Hopman Cup in Perth alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The Hopman Cup is the International Tennis Federation’s version of the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup. Competing
under the banner of their country America, Isner partnered Mattek-Sands. Team America defeated Brits, Italians and French to not only lead the round robin stage but to also secure a spot for itself in the final of the event. In the final, Isner defeated Belgian
Ruben Bemelmans and then partnering Mattek-Sands again defeated the Belgians in mixed doubles to lift their sixth trophy at the event.
Isner returned to the 2011 Heineken Open for the third straight year. He qualified for the 2009 event where he enjoyed a quarterfinal run before losing to top Swede Robin Soderling. He returned in 2010 and made it all the way to the final. Defeating Arnaud
Clement in the final, Isner succeeded in winning his first and till now only title.
Ranked twentieth in the world, Isner occupies the third seed position in the main draw of this year's event. Being one of the top seeds earned him an automatic bye into the second round.
Meeting Isner in the second round was Dutch Robin Haase. The Dutch kicked off 2011 playing at the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open as the eighth seed. Haase enjoyed a quarterfinal run at the event before losing to eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka. Entering his
second straight event of the year, Haase gained direct acceptance in the main draw at Auckland. Not a seed at this event, Haase played his first round match on Tuesday against Pablo Cuevas. Bouncing back from being one set down, Haase succeeded in winning
two straight tiebreakers, thus securing a spot for himself in the second round.
Meeting Isner for the second time on the courts, Haase enjoyed a 1-0 lead in the head to head having defeated Isner in their last meeting at the Basel event in 2010. However, this time round, Isner was able to level his score with Haase though he did hit
a minor bump early into the game. Winning the toss Haase rushed into the lead clinching the opener with a 6-3 victory. Determined to defend his title at the event, Isner bounced back in the second set taking it into tiebreaker. Isner eventually won the tiebreaker
7-4 to go one set each. Entering the decider, the two pros were at it once more determined to not give up the lead. The score was tied for ten games. It was only in the eleventh game that Isner finally caught a break winning two successive games and prevailing
3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 in the match. In an encounter that lasted for more than two hours, Isner struck twenty two aces and lost 44 of 124 points on service.
Isner would now play the Argentinean star David Nalbandian in the quarterfinal round. This will be his second meeting with the Argentine with the latter leading the head to head 1-0.
Joining Isner in the last eight is a Heineken Open veteran, eighth seed Philipp Kohlschrieber. Having debuted in 2004 as a qualifier, Kohlschrieber has appeared at the event every year except for 2005. His best at the event came in 2008 when he won the title
defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero. His 2010 run at the event ended in the semis where he was ousted by Arnaud Clement. Kohlschrieber returned to the 2011 event after his second round exit at the Doha event last week.
Kohlschrieber started his 2011 Auckland run meeting Carlos Berlocq in their first round clash. Bouncing back from being one set down, Kohlschrieber defeated Berlocq 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Moving ahead Kohlschrieber met Marcel Granollers for his second round clash
on Wednesday. After a hard fought battle between the two, the German was eventually victorious. In a match that lasted for almost two hours, Kohlschrieber served ten aces and lost 22 of 69 points on service to secure a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win. He would now play
top seed David Ferrer.
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