Isner Wins Title On Home Soil At The Winston Salem Open

Written by: Staff on 28th August 2011

Isner Wins Title On Home Soil At The Winston Salem Open

John Isner of USA returns to Rafael Nadal of Spain during their first round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 24 May 2011. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA |

John Isner took out Frenchman Julien Benneteau in three sets 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the final of the Winston Salem Open today to claim his third career title.

The big serving World No. 28 has had a great stint on the American tennis swing with a win in Newport, RI, a final loss in Atlanta to Mardy Fish and a semi-final loss to Gael Monfils in Washington.

Isner’s opponent today was World No. 113 Julien Benneteau. The Frenchman had to play qualifying last weekend where he had to win three matches before even gaining a spot in the main draw. Benneteau took out the number sixteen seed Igor Kunitsyn in the second round and he beat Igor Andreev in the third round. He also beat two more seeds Sergiy Stakhovsky in the quarterfinal and Robin Hasse in the semi-final. Benneteau has never won a tournament but he has been in four singles career finals, the latest in Marseille in 2010.

Isner said, “It means a lot for sure to win. Any time you win a tournament at this level it’s a huge accomplishment. For me personally, it is great to win here in virtually my hometown. I think this is perfect preparation for me heading up north.”

The American lost the first set 6-4 without having any chances of breaking the French player. Benneteau broke Isner at 4-4 to claim the first set. Isner hit back and won the second set 6-3, after breaking serve at 4-3. The third set break of serve for Isner came already at 2-2, he then took the set 6-4 and the title after two hours.

“He was handling the wind better than me in the first set and a half. I started to make more balls and be more aggressive in he second set. I told myself to get my intensity up, move ahead in his return games. If I am holding my serves easily, then to get ahead of my opponents service games puts them under pressure,” Isner said.

The Winston Salem Open winner took home a $74 630 cheque and he received 250 ATP ranking points. Benneteau was rewarded $42 500 and 150 ATP ranking points.