ISNER TO FACE MONACO FOR TITLE

Written by: Staff on 15th April 2012

ISNER TO FACE MONACO FOR TITLE

John Isner of the USA in action against Spain's Feliciano Lopez during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, 20 January 2012. EPA/MARTIN PHILBEY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

RESULTS – SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012

SINGLES SEMIFINAL ROUND

[2] John Isner (USA) d [3][WC] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 67(5) 76(4) 63

[4][WC] Juan Monaco (ARG) d [Q] Michael Russell (USA) 57 61 64

DOUBLES FINAL

James Blake (USA) & Sam Querrey (USA) d Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) & Dominic Inglot (GBR) 76(14) 64

ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012

Singles Final 12:00 pm

[4][WC] Juan Monaco (ARG) vs [2] John Isner (USA)

NOTES

– SCHEDULE NOTE: Sunday’s final will now be played at noon.

– With his win Saturday, John Isner moved ahead of Mardy Fish in the ATP World Tour rankings to become the highest ranked American player. He is the 12th player to hold that distinction since the rankings began in 1973 (Smith, Connors, McEnroe, Agassi, Chang, Gilbert, Courier, Samprass, Roddick, Blake and Fish).

– This is the fifth straight year an American has reached the final at this tournament. At least one US player has been in the final in 11 of the past 12 years

– Isner will be playing in his second career clay court final (l. to Querrey at Belgrade in 2010). He is 3-6 overall in finals.

– Isner is now 7-0 on clay in 2012, with two clay wins in the Davis Cup first round in Switzerland, two in the Davis Cup quarterfinal against France in Monte-Carlo and three this week in Houston.

– Monaco is the only player remaining in the draw to have won a title in 2012, winning on clay in Vina del Mar in February.

– For his career, Monaco is 4-8 in ATP World Tour finals. All four titles have come on clay.

– Monaco is fourth on the ATP World Tour in 2012 for clay court wins with a 10-2 record on the surface, behind Nicolas Almagro (14), David Ferrer and Carlos Berlocq (12 each).

– Isner has defeated Monaco in their two previous meetings, both of which were on hard courts. The last meeting was a straight set win for Isner last month in Indian Wells.

– Isner is currently ranked No. 10 on the ATP World Tour, and Juan Monaco is No. 16. The combined ranking of 26 is the lowest for a US Men’s Clay Court Championship final since 2003 when No. 2 Andre Agassi defeated No. 6 Andy Roddick.

– Both Isner and Monaco travelled to Houston on Monday after representing their respective countries in Davis Cup last weekend. Isner won two matches for the US in an away tie against France in Monte-Carlo, while Monaco played the doubles rubber for Argentina at home against Croatia.

– Houston resident Michael Russell, who is 33, was competing in his first career ATP World Tour semifinal on Saturday.

– James Blake & Sam Querrey defeated Treat Conrad Huey & Dominc Inglot in Saturday’s doubles final. Blake won the 2004 US Men’s Clay Court champions doubles title with Mardy Fish while Querrey reached last year’s final with John Isner. This is the fourth year in a row an American team has won the doubles title.

– Tennis Channel coverage of the final will air beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

ONLY LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN for the 2012 US Men’s Clay Court Championship. Information on tickets can be found at www.mensclaycourt.com or by calling 713-527-0345. Once again, the US Men’s Clay Court Championship will provide the Texas Children’s Ticket Turnback program. Any fans holding tickets for a session that they cannot use are invited to return those tickets to the box office where they will be sold for face value and the entire resale price will be donated to Texas Children’s Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Institute.

Editor’s Note: The 10sBalls.com staff all thinks that Isner is going to win. The staff feels that he has been playing exceptionally well…. What do the tennis fans think ?

Topics: 10sballs.com, American clay court tennis, American tennis news, argentina tennis news, Davis Cup 2012, Feliciano Lopez, Houston tennis news, James Blake and Sam Querrey, John Isner, Juan Monaco, Michael Russell, Sports