Home, sweet Home: American service giant John Isner has reached the final for the eighth time in Atlanta and will play at the $748,450 hard court tournament in the US state of Georgia on Sunday after his fifth title. In a new edition of the 2017 final, the top seeded Wimbledon semi-finalist will face his compatriot Ryan Harrison (No. 8).
There are things in life that just fit. Or at least one is hardly conceivable without the other. Max and Moritz, J.R. and Bobby Ewing, Tim and Struppi. John Isner in any case combines the special something with the Tournament in Atlanta. Four times in the past five years, the 2.08-metre Schlaks won the event on Atlantic Drive northeast of the city centre of the 1996 Olympic city. In 2016, Australian Nick Kyrgios only briefly interrupted the Isner Festival.
The 6:4, 6:7 (6:8), 6:1 against the Australian Matthew Ebden (No. 4) brought defending champion Isner to the final of his very special home game for the eighth time since 2010. There, on Sunday afternoon, Ryan Harrison, eighth seed, will challenge him in the local time, who will return the loss to Isner (6:7, 6:7) in last year’s final.
Harrison beat the British player Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals. Also in the doubles final is 26-year-old together with Rajeev Ram (USA).
Isner, ninth in the world ranking, served 26 aces against Ebden and was a bit sloppy at best with his break chances (4 of 14 used). “It was hard. I managed to get off to a good start in the third set, which took the pressure off,” said Isner in the court interview after the heat battle and said: “I have to go inside and cool off first”. Isner and Harrison (ATP No. 53) are friends: “We know each other very well, there are no secrets there,” said the favourite with a view to the showdown.
Should the 33-year-old from Greensboro in North Carolina also triumph at the BB&T Atlanta Open on Sunday, Isner would be the youngest member in an illustrious circle. Only John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, André Agassi and Pete Sampras have so far managed to win the same tournament at least five times.
Isner leads 7-3 in the head-to-head with Harrison, who celebrated his only individual title on the ATP tour in Memphis in 2017. For Isner it would be coup number 14 – and the 12th in the American homeland (only runaway: Auckland 2010 and 2014). Home, sweet Home…