John Isner battles past Gilles Simon into the semi-finals – BNP Paribas Open 2012
American number two, John Isner, survived the thrashing in the second set to beat 13th seed, Gilles Simon of France, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, USA on Thursday. It took
the American one hour and 58 minutes to book his place in the last four.
Simon snatched a break in the opening game of the match and consolidated on it to attain a 2-0 lead. The Frenchman maintained his lead till 3-1 but it was all Isner show after that, as the American claimed five games in a row,
striking in the sixth and eighth game to win it 6-3.
Isner banged in five aces and but also committed a couple of double faults. The American avoided two of the three break threats he came across and utilised two of the six chances he got in the opener.
Simon completed dominated the second set, breaking the American twice and allowing him to win only one game to seal the set 6-1.
The French outclassed Isner with the help of his big first serves, as he smashed four aces and bagged an incredible 13 of the 15 points on them. The right-hander won majority of the return points as well, snatching six of the 12
first and seven of the 12 second ones.
Isner and Simon put on a serving display in the final set, holding their serve in the first 11 games to take the score to 6-5 in favour of the former. The American did not face any difficulty but Simon was under pressure in the
second and sixth game. Serving to stay in the match at 5-6, the French could manage to win only one point, dropping the decider 5-7.
One of the tallest players on the ATP World Tour, Isner, bombarded five aces in the final set. The American had an incredible conversion rate, winning 14 of the 16 first and 10 of the 14 second serve points.
Isner is drawn to take on top seed, Novak Djokovic, in the semi-final. Djokovic beat Nicolas Almagro in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
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