PETE ZIEBRON
World #10 John Isner Pete Ziebron Images
Today, John Isner led the United States to the 2012 Davis Cup semifinals with a 4-set victory over world #6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The victory was Isner's 4th over Top 6 players since last November, including wins over #1 Novak Djokovic, #3 Roger Federer and #6 David Ferrer.
All of the impressive triumphs have taken place on grand stages. The wins over Federer and Tsonga have come in Davis Cup play, on the road and on clay. The victories over Djokovic and Fererer were in Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Paris respectively.
John Isner's recent WINS over the world Top 6:
- #6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Davis Cup @ FRA (APR '12)
- #1 Novak Djokovic Indian Wells (MAR'12)
- #3 Roger Federer Davis Cup @ SUI (FEB '12)
- #5 David Ferrer Paris (NOV '11)
In the last 13 months, John Isner has won 2 ATP tournaments (Newport & Winston-Salem) and raised his ranking from #33 to world #10. More recently, he has emerged as a Davis Cup hero for the United States, helping lead the American squad to wins over Switzerland and France.
However, Isner has also had his share of inexplicable losses since last March. Five times, Isner has lost a match to an opponent ranked #90 or lower, including losing to #126 ranked American Bobby Reynolds this January in Sydney.
John Isner's recent LOSSES to significantly lower ranked opponents:
- #126 Bobby Reynolds Sydney 250 (JAN '12)
- #133 Vasek Pospisil Valencia 500 (OCT '11)
- #90 Ricardo Mello Belgrade 250 (APR '11)
- #174 Ivo Karlovic Houston 250 (APR '11)
- #165 Paul Capdeville Davis Cup @ CHI (MAR '11)
John Isner started playing professional tennis in 2007, shortly after graduating from the University of Georgia. In June 2007, he won an ATP Futures event, and played against 2 opponents ranked 1,000 and higher. Two months later, Isner played world #1 Roger Federer in the 3rd round at the US Open and even won the first set in a tiebreaker over the eventual Champion.
In August 2010 in Cincinnati, Isner was ranked #19 and I asked him about the preperation he received from playing collegiate tennis for 4 years at Georgia:
"Yeah, that's huge. It was really the only route for me, because when I was 18 coming out of high school, I wasn't nearly good enough to go pro. I mean, I was barely top 10 in the nation in juniors, and that's really not a level you want to be at if you wanting go pro. So I knew college was the choice for me. I knew I was gonna be able to practice with players at my level and have the best coaching at my disposal for four years. Every year at Georgia I continued to get better. Finally got to the point where I knew that I had a big enough game and my game developed to where I could give pro tennis a shot. That's really the only reason that I'm here right now is University of Georgia."
Last year, Isner held a 2 sets to 1 lead in the 1st round at Roland Garros against eventual and 6-time Champion Rafael Nadal. With very few points to defend until after Wimbledon, Isner will seek to continue to climb in the rankings.
As a Top 10 player, Isner will hope to improve his showings at major tournaments. He has a 22-16 limetime record and his best result at a major is a Quarterfinal appearance at the 2011US Open.
John Isner's best showing at a major tournament:
- QF US Open '11
- 4th round Australian Open '10
- 3rd round Roland Garros '10
- 2nd round Wimbledon '10 & '11
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