John Isner defeats Ricardo Mello during the BNP Paribas Open 2011 second round
John Isner, America's no.4 and seed no.30 at the BNP Paribas Open 2011, defeated Brazilian world no.75 in straight sets during the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, being held at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens in Indian Wells,
California.
The match lasted an hour and eighteen minutes and was a fairly straightforward affair for the 30th seed, who cleaned out his opponent 6-3, 7-6. Isner is one of the tallest players on the circuit, standing at 6 feet and 9 inches,
and consequently, has one of the best serves on the tour. His year so far has been about average; he has played in 9 tour level matches so far and has lost 5 of them. The American was ranked as highly as 18th in the ATP world rankings last year, and is an
outside favorite at the event. Should he triumph, the American public will definitely rejoice, as it has been pretty long since a home player won the Indian Wells Masters.
Ricardo Mello has been having one of the best years of his career so far. The 30 year old American is a veteran of the sport, having turned pro in 1999. He has played 10 matches on the ATP tour this year, and in contrast to most
of his previous seasons, has already won 5 matches.
The two players had never met before this match, but Isner's ranking and seeding made him the favorite in this encounter. The fans certainly agreed with the expert assessment, as they cheered one of their own every step of the
way.
The match started with both players serving quite well. Isner delivered 65 per cent of his first serves correctly, and capitalized quite well to win 13 points off of his 15 correct first serves. His opponent was better at getting
them in, as he delivered 78 per cent of his correctly, but worse at converting, since he only managed 11 points on a total of 21 correct first serves. Isner's return game was also stronger, as he managed to take 44 per cent of the points he returned on, compared
to the 13 per cent his opponent came up with. This handed Isner 4 chances to break, one of which he took to take the set 6-3.
The second set saw Isner serve better, as he landed in 76 per cent of his first serves correctly. He was as good at converting serves into points, winning 78 per cent of the points he served on. His opponent was also quite good
at conversion this time round, and wrote out 27 out of 38 of his service points in his own name. The narrow difference between the two led to a tie-break, but Isner excelled here, getting a mini-break early and winning 7-2.
Isner next faces Andy Roddick in his third round encounter. Roddick is the current world no.8 and was Isner's senior during their Davis Cup campaign this year. Beating Roddick here might well give Isner the greatest win of his
career, and that is something he will surely look to achieve.
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