John Isner, ace machine watch Australian Open 2013

[kishnabe]

Originally Posted by Mainad

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!

Baby Roddick lost to Baby Federer....no one was suprised.

[edmondsm]

Isner's problem is he can't beat the lower ranked players bad enough. He plays long matches in the opening rounds and is burned out by the time he gets to the higher ranks.

[ark_28]

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!

[Doubles]

Holding serve is great, but if it takes you 11 hours to win a match, then what's the point?

[ark_28]

Originally Posted by Doubles

Holding serve is great, but if it takes you 11 hours to win a match, then what's the point?

Being able to bang down aces 11 hours into a contest shows stamina, durability and immense power!

Even when he takes the pace off his height and direction mean he is still likely to hit a very high portion of aces!

[always_crosscourt]

Originally Posted by ark_28

Being able to bang down aces 11 hours into a contest shows stamina, durability and immense power!

Even when he takes the pace off his height and direction mean he is still likely to hit a very high portion of aces!

He's so talented isn't he? Do you think he represents the purist form of tennis? I do! No rallies - groundstrokes are for women. Whenever he's on it makes for great viewing, that's for sure - his athleticism around the court and shotmaking when put in defensive positions is insane. Even better when he's facing another huge server.

[dominikk1985]

Originally Posted by edmondsm

Isner's problem is he can't beat the lower ranked players bad enough. He plays long matches in the opening rounds and is burned out by the time he gets to the higher ranks.

that is the Problem when you cannot return. ripping aces and FH winners at your own serve is great but if you always go to the tiebreak you will also lose some even against lesser Players. that means Long matches.

he can beat anyone in a single set but also lose since every set with him will come down to a handfull of Points (usually in the tiebreak)

[ark_28]

Originally Posted by dominikk1985

that is the Problem when you cannot return. ripping aces and FH winners at your own serve is great but if you always go to the tiebreak you will also lose some even against lesser Players. that means Long matches.

he can beat anyone in a single set but also lose since every set with him will come down to a handfull of Points (usually in the tiebreak)

The matches will be tight but that is exactly why John with his serve is so tough to stop, his serve can take the racket out of the other guys hand that can include even the top three guys, meaning they are always under pressure to hold their own serve, we are hearing the condition at the AO could be quicker this year, this will play into John's hands even more and make his serve even tougher to break!

[Monsieur_DeLarge]

Ah, what the hell. I like your style, OP. I'll climb on the Isner bandwagon too.

Big John for AO13! You heard it here first. Book it. Guaranteed. For the first time in world history. Weak era. Silent ban. Tank job. H2H. Arrogant pusher juicing CYGS.


Regards,
MDL

[ark_28]

Originally Posted by Monsieur_DeLarge

Ah, what the hell. I like your style, OP. I'll climb on the Isner bandwagon too.

Big John for AO13! You heard it here first. Book it. Guaranteed. For the first time in world history. Weak era. Silent ban. Tank job. H2H. Arrogant pusher juicing CYGS.


Regards,
MDL

Welcome aboard!

[axel89]

chance I could join on the bandwagon?
ISNER GOAT!

[batz]

Originally Posted by ark_28

Welcome aboard!

Got any space for me too?

All aboard the Big Bag John Wagon!

[ark_28]

Welcome along Axel and Batz

Was watching some footage today of Sampras v Agassi from the 1999 Wimbledon final! Awesome serving display from Pete! John serving in those conditions would be so hard to break!

[Relinquis]

He won't make it to the quarter finals at the 2013 Australian Open. So many better players around.

This is tennis, not the NBA or Baseball. You are on your own, you have no team-mates to help you out there and you need to have more than one type of shot to win. You have to be a complete athlete at the top 10 level, not a one-trick-pony. Maybe if Isner works on his ground-strokes (learns how to hit a pro-level backhand) and athleticism he can get to that level. I think he should spend more time in Spain on clay courts training. People will only get better at reading and returning his serve the more they play him as they have with previous big hitters. He is young, he should develop the rest of his game.

I feel sorry for American tennis. I know you guys painfully want a national hero to cheer on, but Isner is no Sampras/Aggassi/Roddick. You deserve better. At least you still have Serena.

[Relinquis]

Please don't compare him to Sampras just yet; Pete had a gorgeous backhand, delicate touch at the net and great movement no matter how long the match. A more relevant comparison from that era would be Ivanisevic; remember, other pros broke his serve regularly on much faster surfaces without advanced string technologies.

[ark_28]

Originally Posted by Relinquis

Please don't compare him to Sampras just yet; Pete had a gorgeous backhand, delicate touch at the net and great movement no matter how long the match. A more relevant comparison from that era would be Ivanisevic; remember, other pros broke his serve regularly on much faster surfaces without advanced string technologies.

Obviously Pete is one of the greatest ever! But Isner has the 2nd best stats for holding and these are on some very slow courts!!

This alone make him a tough match up for anyone but on 90's courts he would have been lethal

[Prodigy1234]

I'm hoppin on the Isner bandwagon!
Isner= AO 2013 Champion

[Nostradamus]

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.

for some odd reason, John has never really done well a the Aussie open. I think he might have done better when the court was Super high bouncing Rebound Ace court. but that new surface doesn't really help his serve.

[ark_28]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

for some odd reason, John has never really done well a the Aussie open. I think he might have done better when the court was Super high bouncing Rebound Ace court. but that new surface doesn't really help his serve.

Despite the slowness of the courts in Melbourne he's made some decent runs! I agree the high bouncing court was slightly more beneficial to his game but the marginally quicker courts this year are going to to make him super difficult to break!

[Doubles]

So akr_28 is just a massive troll. I can't believe it took me this long to realize it...