Isner at the French Open

I don't see anybody other than Nadal and Djokovic beating him there.

Isner has taken Nadal and Djokovic to 5 sets on clay while yesterday pulverising Federer.

Isner is my 3rd favourite for the French just ahead of Del Po!

Vamossssssssssss John!

He probably won't get past Round 4.

3rd Favorite for RG... well its too early for me to call it like that. I like Isner's game, really love watching his kicker . But its more built for Hard courts. He has limited weapons in his game. Though they are lethal, but limited. Its not very tough for a lot of players to expose his weaknesses. He needs all his weapons( mainly his serve and his forehand) to be firing at their best throughout the match. He can't afford to fall behind and then make a catch-up. His weapons were firing great for him yesterday and hence he won against Federer. They worked very well for the 3 sets in the last years RG where he was leading 2-1 sets. But they don't work all time time ( the sets 3,4 last RG ). Thats why having a variety in game and hence many weapons is needed to be top player.

Generally he struggles with his return game. Tactical players like Murray ( good returner too) can often put him out of his zone. His movement is slow. This can be a major issue on clay. Also due to his poor returning games, he has a lot of long marathon matches, energy sapping, and exhausting. He generally never has any easy wins. And he is no Djokovic or Nadal in stamina. Often by the time he reaches the later rounds, he is completely out of gas. See the AO 2012 for e.g.

Thats why its tough for him not only on clay or a GS but any tournament for that matter. He at best may pull out an upset.

The only thing with John is he can play well in long rests between a match, just hasn't done it when he has to play 2 matches in 3 days.

Murray would have no problem against Isner.

I beg to differ NITB. Isner's serve may be neutralised on HC and grass but this bouncing clay is a different game altogehter.

Quite surprising how well he does on clay considering how much he depends on his serve,but yeah I agree he is the best bet for an American to win anything on clay since Agassi
I don't know about being 3rd favourite for RG,I wouldn't go that far cause the 3 favourites are the grand slam heavy weights and Isner hasn't even made a semi final of a major,let alone a final
I gotta say Roger losing to him was a real surprise,embarrassing actually considering it was clay and indoors too.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:I beg to differ NITB. Isner's serve may be neutralised on HC and grass but this bouncing clay is a different game altogehter.

the clay they had in DC both in Switzerland and Serbia was new, indoor, wet type, would bury the ball and then bounce even more out of it. Federer just didn't know what to do when Isner served to his backhand, it looked horrible, Federer was trying to catch the serve at shoulder height, I still think Isner will be no problem for Murray.

I still think Isner will be no problem for Murray.

As I explained earlier Isner would be hard to beat in a 1 off match with a good break beforehand, but they could only meet in 4th round or further which is when Isner seems to tire.

I gotta say Roger losing to him was a real surprise,embarrassing actually

The Swiss should have chosen grass as Isner is totally out of his depth there.

A very strange decision to choose clay.

No they should have gone for indoor hard. Fed wouldn't have lost on indoor hard.

amritia3ee wrote:No they should have gone for indoor hard. Fed wouldn't have lost on indoor hard.

True but he could do with some pracise on grass before Wimbledon & olympics.

Switzerland always play on clay, as it's considered to be Wawrinka's best surface, and Federer (usually) beats everyone except Nadal on clay anyway (I suspect if Switzerland hosted Spain they'd choose Indoor Hard or Carpet).

I'm not sure of that strategy, Wawrinka is pretty useful on all surfaces, so maybe it would make more sense to go with their opponents weakest surface. You'd still think clay vs US is a decent call, Fish's weakest surface by some margin.

So you're saying the Swiss DC team were thinking more about Wawrinka than Federer. Probably explains why Federer was in a but of a huff before the Isner match and after it.