2011 Hopman Cup: Review Session 7 – John Isner vs. Potito Starace
United States enjoyed a 1-0 lead over Italy as John Isner took to the courts to play his second round robin clash with Potito Starace. These two are part of teams of two competing at the 2011 Hopman Cup this week. The event is
the first in the International Tennis Federation’s new circuit and is held annually in Perth.
Kicking off the 7th session at the event was Bethanie Mattek-Sands as she played and defeated much higher ranked Francesca Schiavone. In a surprising turn of events, Mattek-Sands defeated the 2010 Roland Garros winner
with a twin set score of 6-4, 6-4.
Following these two on the courts were Isner and Starace. Ranked nineteenth in the world, Isner is competing at the event for the second straight year having debuted in 2010. Isner finished last year with only one singles title,
winning it at Auckland. He also put in three final appearances, making them at Memphis, Belgrade and Atlanta. Partnering Sam Querry, Isner won a doubles crown at Memphis and made a final appearance with same at the Rome Masters.
Isner played his opening clash of 2011 at the event on Monday in a rematch of his Wimbledon clash with Nicolas Mahut. After a hard fought and a “quick” battle, Isner defeated Mahut in straight sets to go 1-0 in the event.
Starace, on the other hand, lost his opening clash, having been pitted against world number four Andy Murray. Starace lost to Murray in straight sets after putting up a commendable fight. As opposed to Isner, Starace finished 2010
with no singles titles win and only one doubles crown at St. Petersburg.
Opening service, Isner and Starace locked themselves in a neck-to-neck run taking the opener into a tiebreaker. Locked tooth and nail even in the tiebreaker, the two players managed to keep the score tied for ten points. Only at
the eleventh did Isner catch a break eventually clinching the tiebreaker 7-5. The American, however, could not maintain his form into the second set losing it 4-6 to Starace. With one set each, the match entered the decider where Isner reversed the score and
won it 6-4 to win the tie 2-0 for United States.
The Americans were unable to nail the Tie with a perfect 3-0 since they lost the mixed doubles 2-1 to the Italians in Match Tiebreak. Having won against Great Britain earlier in the event, the Italians are now standing at a level
1-1 while United States leads Group B with a perfect 2-0 mark.
Delighted about moving in the pole position, Isner said, "When I got broken in the third it kind of actually freed me up a little bit and I started going for my shots more, it helped me out. So it was definitely a good match to
win you know coming from behind that could help me in the future. I lost my serve three times and it doesn't happen that often, but I'd rather win the match like this than win one where I didn't lose my serve. This is going to give me some confidence going
forward. We're in the driver's seat right now, but nothing's set in stone that's for sure. I know Great Britain is good and France is still good and everybody is still alive so we can't let up any. Hopefully we'll get out of our group and go into the Final."
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