Isner And, Raonic Finish Strong But Miss Top Ten

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 2nd November 2012

BNP Paribas 2012 Masters Tennis Tournament

Isner And, Raonic Finish Strong But Miss Top Ten

epa03453625 John Isner of the USA returns the ball to Michael Llodra of France during their second round match at the BNP Paribas 2012 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 31 October 2012. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

Two of tennis tallest men and most feared servers lost in at the Bercy/Paris Masters on Thursday, ending their seasons. While American John Isner and Canadian Milos Raonic can say that they had successful portions of 2012, both were hoping to end the year ranked in the top 10 and as it stands today Isner will likely end the year somewhere around No. 15 and Raonic around No. 13.

Isner was a Davis Cup hero early in the year, scoring wins over Roger Federer in the US ’ victory over Switzerland and also over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon in France , but he lost four five-setters at the Grand Slams and only managed to win ATP 250 titles at Newport and Winston-Salem .

“I would say that, overall, my year should have been better,” Isner said. “I had two good stretches, at the beginning of the year with the two Davis Cup ties and getting to the final of Indian Wells and then again in the US during the summer when I won Newport and Winston Salem. But I wasn’t consistent. I wasn’t able to sustain the good form and that’s on me to do something about.”

Isner did complain during the spring and early summer that the constant tour travel had gotten to him, but now he says he’s become used to it.

“The travel is not the problem,” he said. “Obviously I feel more comfortable at home but we are lucky to get the opportunity to see great places. Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world…[But] I overscheduled myself this summer. I made seven trips to Europe this year what with Davis Cup and the Olympics. That’s too much.”

The 21-year-old Roanic will end the year as the youngest man in the top 15, did win ATP 250 titles in Chennai and San Jose and also reached finals in Memphis and last month in Tokyo , but the Canadian did not have a huge impact at the majors.

“After the final in Tokyo , I was optimistic, but then I struggled with my game a bit,” he said. “It was a long year with a lot of stress and I didn’t handle it all as well as I could have. This was my first full season and I needed to deal with it all a bit better.”