John Isner battles past Xavier Malisse into the second round – US Open 2012
Home favourite, John Isner, faced some tough moments before overcoming former top-20 player, Xavier Malisse of Belgium, in his opening match at the US Open on Wednesday.
Isner got two sets to love lead but then lost the third and faced two set points in the fourth one, however, the American number one put them away to clinch victory 6-3, 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(9) in two hours and 56 minutes.
No American player has won the US Open since 2003, when Roddick defeated Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero to capture the title. There is huge expectation from Isner this time but it would be a daunted task for him to become champion
in the presence of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Isner has entered the final Grand Slam of the season in top form, having won now nine of his last 10 matches. The American star defended his Winston-Salem title and reached the last-four stage at the Rogers Cup.
Talking about the latest match, there was not much trouble for Isner in the first set, as he needed a single breakthrough to grab it 6-3.
The second set saw brilliant serving display from both players and it went to a tie-breaker, where Isner prevailed in the end 7-6(5).
Both players broke each other once in the first 10 games of the third set to equalise the score at 5-5. Malisse played near flawlessly from there on, winning eight of the nine points to triumph 7-5.
The fourth set was just like the second set, as both players held their serves till the end to force a tie-breaker. There was nothing to separate these two after first 18 points, taking the score to 9-9. Though, Isner snatched
two successively later on to win 7-6(9).
During the post match press conference, Isner said, "I knew the match today was going to be tough. A lot of people are projecting me to go far here, but I wasn't looking past this match. As you guys could see, I had my hands full. He
doesn't mind playing me. He's played me well in the past and he did it again today. Got to a certain point there where it was anyone's match. I just got pretty fortunate at the end. I'm happy to move on."
He added, “A lot of times I win matches on very close margins. Sometimes it can go against me. But I try not to feel that pressure of being a top-10 player.”
Isner will take on Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the second round of the event.
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