Brave Effort For Isner

Written by: Tennischiro on 10th September 2011

Brave Effort For Isner

John Isner of the US hits a return to Andy Murray of Great Britain during their Quarterfinals round match on the twelfth day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 09 September 2011. The US Open has been extended due to weather for the fourth year in a row and the men's final will now be played on 12 September 2011. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

It was a brave effort for Isner, but he needed to understand a little bit better where his energy systems were.

Murray forced Isner to play a 6-point 5-6 service game. Isner did not get to sit down before they started the tie-breaker. Murray went to work on him in the first point with a drop shot. Isner should have let that ball go. He got the next point, but then he gave Murray a free point with a double fault. He was still in it if well behind, but then he blew a sitter volley to fall a second mini-break behind. If the goal was really not just to look good, but to win the match, Isner needed to keep the points as short as possible, even go to the net behind his returns and hold every point on his serve. He simply didn’t have the gas to make a couple of sprints. Hard to let those balls go, so I think he had to go forward and hope. After the third point double fault, Murray was just going side to side. On the fifth point, Murry moved Isner back and forth along the baseline 5 times before putting the ball away with a simple crosscourt backhand. That’s what got him the missed duck volley two points later. Isner called on that ATP-PC system for one good three shot combination. But on the next point after John made a nice approach volley to Andy’s backhand, John had a flimsy grip and let his hands drop as he awaited Murray’s answer. That was fatigue and/or exhaustion.

Nothing is ever as simple as we might like to make it seem when we try to write about it, but it is important to know what kind of energy you have and use that as effectively as possible. Such considerations are especially important when you are involved in the situation created by tropical storm Lee where these players are playing 3/5 set matches on three consecutive days. But it you were going to give a lecture about energy systems, this match would be a good way to explain how those systems work. It also serves to explain some of the miraculous second win recoveries we have seen over the years. Sometimes, the Aerobic Energy system needs just a little more time than we expect to kick in. But it is always there.

If nothing else, Isner did a big favor to Roddick or Nadal by not letting Murray off with a simple straight set victory. Nadal has already broken Roddick’s first service game, but if Roddick can get past Nadal, it will be adrenalin that makes the difference. Then he will need even more adrenalin tomorrow, not to mention plenty of help from glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation!

Tennischiro