John Isner, ace machine watch Australian Open 2013

ark_28 · 01-04-2013, 01:15 AM

Isner seemed to pick up a slight niggle at the Hopman Cup but thankfully he seems to be on course for the Australian Open!

This is a player that at 6ft 9 has a sporting idol who was in the NBA and not tennis but has ferocious power off the serve and forehand!

The proof is in the pudding that on his day he is the most devastating player in the world! Last year he took the racket out of Federer's hand to beat him in Switzerland in the Davis Cup before beating Djokovic in Indian Wells!

Isner also has the record for the most aces in a match (113). The ferocious power plus enormous serve from such a height mean that if John gets it all together he is going to be unstoppable come the Australian Open which gets underway on January 14th in Melbourne.

Tafmatch · 01-04-2013, 01:19 AM

That might be true but it's too bad he can't hit a return.

Warmaster · 01-04-2013, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ark_28

Isner seemed to pick up a slight niggle at the Hopman Cup but thankfully he seems to be on course for the Australian Open!

This is a player that at 6ft 9 has a sporting idol who was in the NBA and not tennis but has ferocious power off the serve and forehand!

The proof is in the pudding that on his day he is the most devastating player in the world! Last year he took the racket out of Federer's hand to beat him in Switzerland in the Davis Cup before beating Djokovic in Indian Wells!

Isner also has the record for the most aces in a match (113). The ferocious power plus enormous serve from such a height mean that if John gets it all together he is going to be unstoppable come the Australian Open which gets underway on January 14th in Melbourne.

Or he gets forced to play a 5-setter in an early round and it's bye bye John.

Jeffrey573639 · 01-04-2013, 01:32 AM

No one denies he has a great serve but his movement and ,as Tafmatch suggests, his ROS is pretty below average. And saying he's the most devastating player in the world or unstoppable is going way over the top

SLD76 · 01-04-2013, 01:56 AM

Dunno, a knee injury on the eve of the AO cant be a good thing.

And its tendonitis at that

ark_28 · 01-04-2013, 03:40 AM

When you serve as fast and with as much bounce as Isner extracts then returns are not really that important!

Take his match against Federer for instance! In the last 3 sets Fed one of the great returners was finding it near impossible to break Isners serve as a result Federer was under pressure every time he served!!

By the end of the match the pressure told and the confidence this gave Isner transferred to his return game as he won the 4th set 6-2 and was climbing into Federer's serve and breaking him and will with some of the biggest return winners you will see!

batz · 01-04-2013, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ark_28

When you serve as fast and with as much bounce as Isner extracts then returns are not really that important!

Take his match against Federer for instance! In the last 3 sets Fed one of the great returners was finding it near impossible to break Isners serve as a result Federer was under pressure every time he served!!

By the end of the match the pressure told and the confidence this gave Isner transferred to his return game as he won the 4th set 6-2 and was climbing into Federer's serve and breaking him and will with some of the biggest return winners you will see!

Except they are. That's how come the big fella is a combined 1-4 versus Noel and Murray.

I'd love to see Isner do well at the AO - but those 2 guys are his worst nightmare.

ark_28 · 01-04-2013, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batz

Except they are. That's how come the big fella is a combined 1-4 versus Noel and Murray.

I'd love to see Isner do well at the AO - but those 2 guys are his worst nightmare.

Murray and Djokovic are two excellent returners! But the fact is Isner won his last match against either of those two last year at Indian Wells! And it is a long time since he faced Murray!

Of course having variation is nice etc but Isner can literally hold at will against the majority of the tour then go for bust in the breakers!

The match v Novak last year is a classic example winning two tiebreakers after losing the middle set pretty convincingly!

HvyFriend · 01-04-2013, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ark_28

Murray and Djokovic are two excellent returners! But the fact is Isner won his last match against either of those two last year at Indian Wells! And it is a long time since he faced Murray!

Of course having variation is nice etc but Isner can literally hold at will against the majority of the tour then go for bust in the breakers!

The match v Novak last year is a classic example winning two tiebreakers after losing the middle set pretty convincingly!

Except for when he can't hold at will at all. See his 2012 US Open and French Open losses. No tiebreaks in either of those five-set matches. Or the Australian where the only two sets he won in the third round were tiebreaks, and he got crushed in the others. His first round Wimbledon loss... where his big serve should serve him best!

I like Isner, but he's got a lot to improve.

Mainad · 01-04-2013, 12:51 PM

Lol...so we're back with the " How on earth can anyone ever beat John Isner with a serve like that?" threads are we?

I thought Mighty Milos had long since taken over Big John's mantle as the player with the Big Serve that everyone will run a mile from?

I wonder if it is because Mighty Milos lost in the opening round of Brisbane that his future 'Goatness' has been put on hold and Big John has been brought out of the closet and dusted down for another run as 'The Next Big Thing In Tennis' ? I have a feeling we've all been here before!

Déja Vu is not what it used to be!

ark_28 · 01-05-2013, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HvyFriend

Except for when he can't hold at will at all. See his 2012 US Open and French Open losses. No tiebreaks in either of those five-set matches. Or the Australian where the only two sets he won in the third round were tiebreaks, and he got crushed in the others. His first round Wimbledon loss... where his big serve should serve him best!

I like Isner, but he's got a lot to improve.

The thing is when you have a serve as huge as John's you can afford to mentally check out for large parts of the match and then at some stage put all your energy into playing a great return game to break!
Sometimes this loss of concentration can spill into your own service games! And that is what happened to John in the matches you mentioned!

Holding at will is not a problem for him! The guy has the 2nd best stats for holding serve and we play on the some of the slowest courts ever now! That says a lot!

Legend of Borg · 01-06-2013, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batz

Except they are. That's how come the big fella is a combined 1-4 versus Noel and Murray.

I'd love to see Isner do well at the AO - but those 2 guys are his worst nightmare.

Didn't Isner pull off a match from Nole at IW?

Inb4 Isner is anti-Djokovic lol.

ark_28 · 01-07-2013, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legend of Borg

Didn't Isner pull off a match from Nole at IW?

Inb4 Isner is anti-Djokovic lol.

That was a big win for John! In the last two years Novak has only lost once at Indian wells or Miami and it was that match v John!

ark_28 · 01-08-2013, 04:48 AM

John seeded 12th for the Australian Open which is fantastic news the big is likely to give many guys in the draw fits in Melbourne with his huge serve on what we are hearing are quicker courts this year!

Cup8489 · 01-04-2013, 06:03 AM

If he was a better returner he'd be a much more difficult opponent to handle, though.

single_handed_champion · 01-04-2013, 06:30 AM

He is becoming what Roddick was towards the latter part of his career... someone who can be bested off the ground and any guy with a decent serveand groundies, if he keeps his head together in return games to make a return or two, can beat him.

Doubles · 01-04-2013, 06:47 AM

I love Isner, but he's got no chance. If you think that having a big serve means the rest of your game doesn't matter, explain to me why he hasn't won a grand slam yet? How about Karlovic? He's a good server, too. Why hasn't he won one yet?

Hodgey20 · 01-04-2013, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doubles

I love Isner, but he's got no chance. If you think that having a big serve means the rest of your game doesn't matter, explain to me why he hasn't won a grand slam yet? How about Karlovic? He's a good server, too. Why hasn't he won one yet?

Im in the same boat. Isner is one of my favorite players and I think he will have a good showing in the AO, but until he gets better in the return game i dont see him winning any majors. Still love him though

Monsieur_DeLarge · 01-04-2013, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ark_28

Isner also has the record for the most aces in a match (113).

Only because it took him 91 service games to overcome a French qualifier ranked outside the top 100.

If you really think he'll win, place a bet and post a pic of the slip for us. Then we'll know you're serious.

Regards,
MDL

Andres · 01-04-2013, 08:34 AM

Is this 2009?

Damn you Y2K, messing wid owr brainz again.

01-04-2013, 01:15 AM	#1
ark_28 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: England/USA Posts: 2,996	John Isner, ace machine watch 2013 Isner seemed to pick up a slight niggle at the Hopman Cup but thankfully he seems to be on course for the Australian Open! This is a player that at 6ft 9 has a sporting idol who was in the NBA and not tennis but has ferocious power off the serve and forehand! The proof is in the pudding that on his day he is the most devastating player in the world! Last year he took the racket out of Federer's hand to beat him in Switzerland in the Davis Cup before beating Djokovic in Indian Wells! Isner also has the record for the most aces in a match (113). The ferocious power plus enormous serve from such a height mean that if John gets it all together he is going to be unstoppable come the Australian Open which gets underway on January 14th in Melbourne. Last edited by ark_28 : 01-09-2013 at 10:28 PM.

01-04-2013, 01:32 AM	#4
Jeffrey573639 Rookie Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Sydney Posts: 365	No one denies he has a great serve but his movement and ,as Tafmatch suggests, his ROS is pretty below average. And saying he's the most devastating player in the world or unstoppable is going way over the top __________________ GODMODEYEYE FOR CYGS 2014!!!!!

01-04-2013, 01:56 AM	#5
SLD76 Legend Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Jersey Shore, NJ USA Posts: 7,454	Dunno, a knee injury on the eve of the AO cant be a good thing. And its tendonitis at that __________________ "I'd like to see Fognini-Tomic, that would be a classic of bored nonchalance"-bjk

01-04-2013, 12:51 PM	#10
Mainad Hall Of Fame Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 4,995	Lol...so we're back with the " How on earth can anyone ever beat John Isner with a serve like that?" threads are we? I thought Mighty Milos had long since taken over Big John's mantle as the player with the Big Serve that everyone will run a mile from? I wonder if it is because Mighty Milos lost in the opening round of Brisbane that his future 'Goatness' has been put on hold and Big John has been brought out of the closet and dusted down for another run as 'The Next Big Thing In Tennis' ? I have a feeling we've all been here before! Déja Vu is not what it used to be! __________________ “Other than when Andy lost to Novak in 2011 he has always played the No.1 player in the world in the finals, those are difficult to win." (I. Lendl).

01-04-2013, 06:03 AM	#15
Cup8489 Legend Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Silvis, IL Posts: 8,141	If he was a better returner he'd be a much more difficult opponent to handle, though. __________________ Allcourter. Tennis fan.