John Isner destroys Yen-Hsun Lu to reach the semi-final – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
World number 35, John Isner, devastated Taiwan’s top player, Yen-Hsun Lu, in the quarter-finals of Atlanta Tennis Championships, being played at Atlanta, the United States, on Friday.
Seeded at number three in the tournament, Isner took less than an hour to blow away Lu in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, to qualify for the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour event. Lu couldn’t withstand the fury of his belligerent
opponent and crumbled in the second set without posing any real resistance.
The Taiwanese utterly failed to crack a serve break in the entire matchup and held serve in just three out of the 15 games being played. The tall American, who took almost three hour to take down James Blake in the second round after three enthralling sets
but it required just 56 minutes for him in the Friday’s matchup to dispense out Lu.
“It’s good to get off the court quickly,” Isner said. “It’s what I didn’t do my first round, so I’ll definitely be fresh tomorrow.”
Isner made his big serve his primary weapon in the matchup, firing eight aces while delivering 79 per cent serve on the target. The American reeled off 29 out of 33 first serve points and capitalized over the silly mistakes of Lu in the contest to remain
on top of the contest throughout. The third seeded American took reins of the game right from the beginning and orchestrated most of the rallies in the game to register an assertive victory in the end.
Isner delivered 86 per cent of his serve on target and collected 16 out of 18 first serve points in the opening set to get off to a flyer. He cracked in the first serve break of the day in the third game of the opener to lead 2-1 and then carried on with
his pace to exert further pressure upon Lu. A second break point conversion from Isner closed out the first set for him at 6-1, giving him a one-set lead in the matchup.
The following set was a complete replication of the first set, with Isner cracking in two more serve breaks to inch closer to victory. The American closed out the contest at 6-2, to qualify for the semi-final of Atlanta Tennis Championships, where he will
face Gilles Muller of Luxemburg for a place in the final. Muller upset the second seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa in straight sets 7-6(3), 7-6(3), in the second round of the tournament.
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