“10s Whenever” Newsletter Vol. 138

Written by: Staff on 22nd February 2014

"10s Whenever" Newsletter Vol. 138

epa03591332 John Isner of the US follows through on his serve to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in their first round match in the US National Indoor Tennis Championships at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 19 February 2013. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Isner, Johnson into semi-finals from Richard Evans, Delray Beach

One day John Isner will win a match in straight sets but, in the meantime, the giant American is just happy to progress and he did just that against Rhyne Williams here under the light, reaching the semi-final of the Delray Beach Open by 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

So far this year, Isner’s only straight set win has come in the final of the New Zealand Open. “Trust me I’d love to win in straight sets,” Isner smiled as the sweat dripped off his 6 ft 9” frame on a humid evening. “But I got distracted when Rhyne showed signs of being hurt. It’s really not easy playing an injured opponent.”

Isner did not need to see Williams rubbing his upper right arm to realize his 22-year-old opponent was having shoulder problems. In the previous service game, Rhyne’s first serve speed had dropped to around 80 mph.

“His big first serve is a major part of his game,” said Isner. “It was obvious he was struggling. I hope he gets over it quickly.”

For the last two games of the first set, Isner had trouble keeping the ball in court and, after double faulting to lose serve, he hit the ball out of the stadium and received a ‘ball abuse’ conduct warning.

But he quickly recovered his rhythm and Williams was never in contention during the last two sets.

Earlier in the day, Steve Johnson ensured there would be two Americans in the semi-final by outplaying the sixth seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez who looked as if he had left his mind, if not his body, on the beach as he slumped to a 6-3, 6-2 defeat. Johnson, a stand out NCAA star at USC, will be playing in his first ever ATP semi-final when he meets local resident Kevin Anderson on Saturday afternoon.

Marin Cilic came into Delray as one of the hottest players on the tour this year, having won the title in Zagreb and reached the final in Rotterdam, and continued to live up to that billing as he beat the Russian veteran Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 6-3.

Cilic’s career was threatened last year when he made the mistake of sending his mother to the drug store to buy him some cold medicine and didn’t read the label. The concoction contained what, on first inspection, appeared to be a banned substance but the findings were questioned and Cilic got off with a three month suspension.

He is now back with a vengeance and promises to climb back towards the top ten which he achieved back in 2010 when he reached No 9 on the ATP computer. Cilic has now won 16 matches this year, more than anyone else on the tour.

His semi-final against Isner will be short on rallies and, on past evidence, will go the Croat’s way. Cilic currently holds a 3-0 winning record against the American. “Always a lot of tie-breaks when we play,” Cilic said before going off to analyze the match with his new coach, Goran Ivanisevic.

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Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Delray Beach Open, Feliciano Lopez, Goran Ivanisevic, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic, Rhyne Williams, Richard Evans, Sports, Steve Johnson, Tennis, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

February 22, 2014 at 8:16 am

“10s Whenever” Newsletter Vol. 138 – http://t.co/zF2lsmmzX7 #tennis #Newsletter @JohnIsner @SJohnson_89 #Delray