Novak Djokovic bows out to John Isner in semis of the BNP Paribas Open 2012: Tennis Special
World number one, Novak Djokovic, was crashed out against the local star, John Isner, in gruelling three sets at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Saturday night. He suffered a 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-7(5) shock at the hands of the 11th seed in the last four
at this hard court tournament taking place in Indian Wells, California.
The top seed endured a troublesome three setter defeat against Isner and exited from this event with frustration. The American on the other side outsmarted Djokovic for the first time in their third encounter and assertively advanced into his first ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 final.
"With that serve and with that forehand he's got the ability to be a Top 10 player," the Serbian number one was quoted after the match. "He had that already a couple years back. It's just a matter of really trusting your instincts and your strokes and your
quality."
The 24-year-old high-spiritedly entered the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and drew the first blood in the third game, eventually leaping to a 3-1 lead.
However, Isner stayed focused and kept his remaining serves without facing any real challenge. He then capped the set by cashing in the lone break chance in the 10th game, levelling the scores at 5-5. The set went to the tie-breaker where the
American prevailed, eventually clinching the opener with a 7-6(7) score line.
The Monaco resident, Djokovic sought his rhythm in the following set and smoothly held his serve to love in the opening game. He continued hammering angled shots and kept remaining serves without facing any breakpoint. The Serb got the breakthrough in the
eighth game and sealed the equaliser by winning six games to three.
The match was balanced at a knife edge but the crowd favourite Isner went into the overdrive mode and pulled out the decider. Isner dominated in the entire set and swiped in entire serves after brushing off the only breakpoint he came across. However, he
squandered the lone break opportunity and dragged the set to the tie-breaker.
Djokovic was underplayed by the lower ranked contender in the tie-breaker again and ultimately suffered a 6-7(5) loss.
All in all, Isner displayed his top class performance in this match. He smacked 20 vicious aces and clobbered a better first serve share. The American also spectacularly availed 60 out of 83 points on it and finished the match with 106 points.
"I knew going into this year that I had the tools and I had the game to be able to at least compete with these guys," the beaming Isner said after this epic battle. "I take the court no matter who I'm playing expecting to win and believing to win.”
Ranked 11th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Isner will next confront the former world number one, Roger Federer. The Swiss Maestro toppled Rafael Nadal of Spain in straight sets to set-up this duel.
The reigning Australian Open champion, Djokovic is looking forward to recover at the Sony Ericsson Open, a Masters 1000 event held in Miami, Florida. He needs to focus at his speciality that is his massive groundstrokes in order to ease past his opponents.
Djokovic is gunning for his second career title this circuit.
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