John Isner battles past Jarkko Nieminen into the round three – US Open 2012
USA’s best player at the moment, John Isner, continued to capitalise on his recent top form to defeat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in four sets 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New
York on Friday.
Isner and Nieminen made a stable start, as they did not drop their serve in the first six games and took the score to 3-3. The American number one completely dominated the proceedings later on, winning three back to back to seal
it 6-3.
Both players served almost flawlessly in the second set. Such was the level of brilliance that they did not provide each other even a single break chance throughout, squaring off the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker.
They went neck to neck till 5-5 but then Nieminen pocketed two points in a row to grab it 7-6(5).
After the second set and lead slipped out of his hand, Isner struck in the very first game of the third one and consolidated on it to gain a 2-0 lead. The American star maintained his advantage till the end, winning it 6-4.
Isner captured opening three games of the fourth set to race to a 3-0 advantage. The American player did not allow the Finn contender to come back and closed it 6-3.
The 27-year-old needed two hours and 30 minutes to clinch win over his left-handed opponent.
Isner got a bit frustrated and lost his temper due to a line call, fussing with the chair umpire. The American said, “It wasn’t the chair ump, she was doing her job. I got a little frustrated, but it wasn’t at her.’’
He added, "The third set was a little tricky. I was down two or three break points in that third set. Something clicked at 5-4 me, 40/15 him serving. I reeled off four straight points. I hit four great forehands and won that set
and had the momentum from there."
Nieminen also praised the American star, as he said, “(Isner) is a dangerous player for anyone. His footwork and baseline game has improved so much, and his serve, it’s right there with the best.”
Isner is drawn to face the 19th seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, in the third round. The German came back from two sets to one down to beat Frenchman, Benoit Paire, in his last match.
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