Isner serves with style
JOHN Isner won’t be doing much for a charity in Auckland this week.
ASB have organised a Rally for Charity over the tennis fortnight, where $10 will be donated to Ronald McDonald House whenever a rally reaches 10 hits.
It brought in $5740 over the women’s tournament, but no-one should expect much to be raised whenever Isner plays.
For the 2.08m tall American, tennis is all about the serve. He has one of the biggest ever in the game and holds a bunch of records, but rallies rarely go longer than a few hits.
His height helps make his serve a strength, but it also creates weaknesses in other parts of his game, because he can’t change direction quickly on the court.
However, because he serves so many aces, he’s hard to break.
‘‘I’m pretty confident in my serve,’’ Isner said yesterday.
‘‘I’ll still take it up against anyone’s but you have a guy like [Ivo] Karlovic who has a fantastic serve and [Milos] Raonic is doing amazing things and a lot of it is behind his serve.
‘‘There are a handful of very good servers on the tour right now and I think I’m one of the better ones.’’
At the age of 31, he says he doesn’t put in as work on his serve that he used to, but to be fair, he doesn’t really need to.
‘‘I’m past the point of where I’m hitting buckets of serves on the practice court,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve had a lot of repetition throughout my career, but serving is something I do at the very least every day, even if it’s for five or 45 minutes.
‘‘I do like to work on my strengths. I certainly get a lot of practice on my weaknesses when I play matches.
‘‘Guys are moving me from side to side, hitting my backhand.
‘‘But I like to focus on my strengths as well.’’
Isner has finished each season for the last seven years ranked inside the top 20.
He’s done that while only once ever reaching the quarterfinals of a grand slam, at the US Open in 2011.
But he has won 10 titles throughout his career, including twice in Auckland, in 2010 and 2014.
But his last tournament in 2016 was one of his best ever, making it all the way to the final of the Paris Masters.
He beat the likes of David Ferrer, Jack Sock and Marin Cilic on the way to the final and narrowly lost to Andy Murray 6-3 6-7 6-4.
‘‘It was certainly the best I played all year in that tournament,’’ Isner said.
‘‘Better late than never, so I was glad I was able to find that form at the end of the year.
‘‘I feel like I’ve had a good offseason and I’m playing well. It doesn’t necessarily translate to success on the match court, but the tournament in Paris shined a light on the right way to play and the right way of going about my business on the court, so I’ve got to continue that momentum in 2017.’’
So what did Isner do that week that he doesn’t do regularly?
‘‘I was going for my shots more and not thinking as much,’’ he said.
‘‘I was certainly more confident once I’d won two or three matches in a row.
‘‘I was just feeling good all week. Weeks like that don’t come around too often, it was one of those things where a lot of things were clicking for me.
‘‘I had a lot of stuff go my way, it was a very good week, but at the same time, I did earn that by playing the right way, so that’s what I have to do here at this tournament and the rest of my tournaments going forward.’’
He is becoming one of the older players on the circuit now, but still has plenty of tennis ahead of him.
He hasn’t given himself a timeline of how long he wants to keep playing for, but says once he’s no longer playing well, he won’t hang around. TWONew Zealanders will feature in the men’s ASB Classic after Michael Venus joined Artem Sitak in securing main draw wildcards.
German Dustin Brown, the flamboyant 72 ranked German, was handed the third wildcard by tournament director Karl Budge. Brown knocked Rafa Nadal out of the second round at Wimbledon in 2015.
Venus, now a full-time doubles player, is a somewhat controversial inclusion, as top ranked Kiwi singles player Rubin Statham and No 2 Finn Tearney battle to make it through qualifying.
Statham decided not to return to New Zealand to contest the NZ Championships in December. Sitak came through that tournament to claim the wildcard.
Budge was unapologetic about his decision to give Venus entry over Statham. ’’They had their opportunity,’’ Budge said. ‘‘We put a wildcard up for New Zealand champs and if you want to come back and win the wildcard and take us out of the equation you can.’’
Venus will meet Spanish sixth seed Feliciano Lopez in the first round while Sitak takes on France’s Jeremy Chardy, ranked 69.
Venus prevailed against Colombia’s Alejandro Gonzalez over three sets in 2015, losing to Lucas Pouille in the second round. He lost in straight sets to Benoit Paire in the first round last year but went on to claim the doubles title.
‘‘I think Mike is our best singles player,’’ Budge said. ‘‘He’s shown that over the last two years. He was the first Kiwi player to win a match in 12 years two years ago and backed that up against Lucas Pouille, a guy that’s now fringe top 10. I don’t think there’s been a better atmosphere, certainly in my time, than the night Mike won.
‘‘He played very well this year against Benoit Paire and I think he’s got a game that can win a match out on centre court. It’s a tough draw for Mike. Lopez is a very solid player. That will certainly be a centre court match but Mike has a game on fast courts that can play well.’’
Sitak is in the doubles final Chennai and faces a quick turnaround to return home. ’’Chardy is a solid player he’s been top 30 for a long time. He’s quite a fun guy to watch.’’
Budge is confident interest will remain strong in next week’s tournament.