Top 20 breakthroughs in professional tennis circuit this year: Part 13 – Tennis Special
3. John Isner (the United States of America)
Well, I have yet another American tennis professional for you who has registered an impactful breakthrough this season. Third in my countdown list comes the 6ft 9in giant from Florida, John Isner. The 27-year-old veteran has been
in the professional tennis circuit for quite some time now but this proves to be the best one he had so far.
With the American tennis titan, Andy Roddick, coming close to retire from the game and Mardy Fish being sidelined due to persistent injuries, it was Isner who stood forward to hold on the legacy of the sport from his country. He
improved his rankings significantly to become the American number one tennis player and continued to back up his high-class performances with trophies under his belt.
One obvious reason for the slump in his early career was his commitment at college. As soon as he completed his education at the University of Georgia, all his focus turned to the tennis courts and he emerged as one of the most
belligerent contender on the ATP World Tour. His early progress has been relatively slower but the current professional circuit brought a number of achievements for the American.
Isner’s extraordinary height makes him deliver the most lethal serve in the men’s tennis but he had to labour extremely hard to develop the rest of his game. His consistency at the start of the 2012 ATP World Tour propelled him
to his career-best rankings of world number nine in April but early exits from some tournaments slipped him out of the elite Top-10 and he currently holds the 11th spot in men’s rankings.
The 27-year-old American had a decent start to the running season and went until the third round of the Australian Open. His quarter-final appearance in Memphis and semi-final run at Delray Beach built up the impetus he needed
to take part in the Indian Wells Masters tournament on his home soil. Isner registered the biggest victory of his career by beating the then world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the semi-finals. He was over the moon after dumping the top seeded contender,
who came to Indian Wells after winning the Australian Open Grand Slam title. However, luck didn’t go his way in the title match and he lost to the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, to squander the golden opportunity to win his first Masters 1000 title.
His sublime form continued in Houston but again the pressure of the crunch game took the better of him and he lost to Juan Monaco in the final of the tournament. Isner’s second round exit from French Open and a cracking opening
round defeat at Wimbledon Championships ignited the rage mode in him and he went to Newport with all his guns blazing. The tall American contender outmuscled the former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, to claim his first ATP title of the season in straight
sets, 7-6(1), 6-4.
Isner was a semi-finalist in Atlanta, quarter-finalist at the London Olympics and again finished in the round of four at Toronto Masters event. He nailed his second major breakthrough of the season by winning the Winston Salem
event, beating the Czech number one, Tomas Berdych, in the title match. He finished in the third round of the US Open and recently ended his Shanghai Rolex Masters campaign after falling to Radek Stepanek in the round of 16.
Isner is no doubt a tough opponent to face and his improvement in the game has been the most impressive one. I hope to see him back in the Top-10 rankings next year and a couple of more ATP titles in his bag.
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