John Isner trounces Gilles Muller in the opening round – Regions Morgan Keegan Championships 2012
Top seeded John Isner proved his class by dumping the Luxembourgian challenger, Gilles Muller, in two sets’ tie-breaker at the Regions Morgan Keegan Champions 2012 on Tuesday. He formulated a 7-6(1), 7-6(4) success against the 28-year-old to set-up a clash
between his compatriot, Donald Young, in the second round at this hard court tournament held in Memphis, United States.
Crowd favourite, Isner, needed one hour and 40-minutes to tumble over the Luxembourgian in their third meeting at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 series event. He subjugated in the tie-breakers and not only improved to a 3-0
record at the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Muller but also booked a spot in the second round.
Both tennis stars displayed magnificent skills and abilities in the opening set. They swiftly pocketed entire serves without facing any breakpoint and took the set to a tie-breaker. Regardless of the scores being levelled, Isner was the one who registered
impressive stats. He fired 10 vicious aces and earned a perfect win on his higher first serve share of 71 percent.
After the scores were tied at 1-1 in the tie-breaker, the American unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to reel off remaining points and clinched the opener with a 7-6(1) score line.
The 26-year-old kept momentum running into the following set and held his serve in the second game to square the scores at 1-1. The local star defended the only breakpoint he encountered to bag all his serves. He also sought five break opportunities but
failed to capitalise on any of them, subsequently dragging the set to a tie-breaker. Isner dominated in it and sealed the set with a 7-6(4) win.
"Even though I beat Roger [Federer], it was just one match," the highest ranked player of the event said after the match. "I think confidence comes from putting a string of match [wins] together. I haven't really played that many matches. This was just my
seventh match of the year."
Next in line for the high spirited Isner is his fellow citizen, Donald Young, who went the distance to outclass Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in troublesome three sets.
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