Mathieu Denies the Marathon Man

In the early 2000s, Paul-Henri Mathieu was one of the leading talents of the French squad. His moment of fame came at Roland Garros, in 2002, when he lost an epic encounter with Andre Agassi after leading by two sets to love. A sensational fortnight later that year, when he captured back-to-back titles at Lyon and Moscow, confirmed his credentials and many were great things for the young Frenchman. However, plagued by injuries, Mathieu struggled to leave up to the expectations. But in 2007, after some dark years, he managed to get his career back on track by claiming clay-court titles at Casablanca and Gstaad. In April 2008, just before reaching his second 4th round at the French Open, he recorded his highest ranking at number 12. Unfortunately though misery struck again and Paul-Henri's career was derailed once more. 

Many thought that this would be the end for the Frenchman, but he refused to give up. After being sidelined by a knee injury all of 2011, Mathieu is currently making another comeback attempt and what better place to relight the fire than Roland Garros, the place dearest to his heart. Being granted a wildcard to enter the main draw, Paul-Henri was determined to make the most of it. After rallied from two sets down in his first-round clash with German Bjorn Phau, he produced a stellar performance to succumb 10th seeded American, John Isner.

Isner has had some solid results on clay this season, especially in the Davis Cup where he recorded a stunning win over Federer, but he was unable to have the last say against his inspired opponent. The Frenchman had to earn it though as after spliting the first four sets, the duo went the distance. The American rose to prominence after winning the legendary encounter with Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set, a match that lasted 11 hours and five minutes over a three-day stretch and went on to become the longest match in Grand Slam, so many were expecting a similar outcome. However, Mathieu had other plans. Supported by a packed Phillippe Chatrier Court, the Frenchman got the crucial point, sealing the victory 17-15 in the decider after 5 hours and 41 minutes of play. 

"Having the opportunity of experiencing such a thing as I did tonight, it's incredible," said an enthusiastic Mathieu. "Playing like this on a big court like this is fantastic, especially after being injured. This is why I fought and tried to come back. It's to have those moments again. I remember Mahut's match, so I just couldn't believe it was over," he continued. "I had match point. It was tough. Every time I needed to concentrate and focus again on my serve, so when the match was over, I had trouble realising it was really over."

The player who once struggled so much to close out matches seems to have found a new mentally strength now. "Before I used to become very tense at the end of a match like this", he admitted. "I have more experience now. But in the fifth set I was always ahead. I was up in the scores and I was serving first so that it was an advantage." He goes on to face the winner of the clash between Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Tunisian Malek Jaziri.

Isner, the Marathon Man of the ATP tour, is surely disappointed with his display. "I escaped a lot today; it could have been worse," he said referring to the fact that he saved 20 of 24 break points faced on serve. "But I just didn't get it done. I felt like I got caught in patterns that weren't ideal for me. I was hitting every return to his backhand and he was stepping up and running me around. I'm not gonna win the point when I'm running side to side."
Mathieu's success comes one day after Razzano's magnificent triumph over Serena Williams, giving the French crowd yet another reason to cheer about at this year's Roland Garros. 

After 5 hours and 41 minutes of play, Paul-Henri Mathieu obtained one of the biggest wins of his career stunning 10th seeded American, John Isner in front of the partisan crowd.

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Giant Isner Carries US Through

The US team has beat all the odds as it achieved a surprising qualification into the Davis Cup semifinals and it was one particular player who has done the damage, namely the Giant John Isner. Facing Roger Federer's Switzerland on their home claycourts in Fribourg, the Americans started as the underdogs. However, an inspired Isner produced the shocker, bringing in the decisive point after surprisingly beating Federer in four sets. 

The victory rekindled an old flame in Isner and, when their next opponents chose the claycourts of Monte Carlo as the venue for their clash, the crush evolved into a genuine love affair. In a time when the red dirt has allegedly become faster than grass, it should come as no surprise that big servers like Isner feel more at ease on this surface. He showed just how well his game suits the clay when dealing with the French. Being once more the star of the American squad he recorded a straight sets success over Gilles Simon in the first day, to then score decisively after succumbing home nation's number 1, the exuberant Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in four acts. Courtesy of his wins, Jim Courier's team got an unexpected date with defending champions Spain in the last four. With the tie being held abroad, it is expected that the Spanish will pick their favourite surface, giving John another chance to shine on clay. It remains to be seems how will the American respond to the challenge, the Spaniard being renowned for their claycourt mastership. 

Nevertheless, with an impressive tally of big wins under his belt, Isner's season is starting to catch momentum. He is definitely building a strong reputation on clay that indicates him as a fierce contestant for next month's Roland Garros crown.

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Isner's BIG Breakthrough

After a couple of seasons of hanging around with the best players in the world, big server John Isner finally got his long awaited time to shine. Playing in front of a partisan crowd at Indian Wells, the American delivered a stellar performance to succumb world number 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic and qualify for his first ATP Masters 1000 final. Independent on the result of Sunday's big finale, Isner achieved another career milestone. On Monday, when the next rankings will be released, he is guaranteed to crack the top 10 for the first time. Additionally, if he wins the title, he will become the best ranked American, replacing compatriot Mardy Fish as the new number 8.
Although he started the semifinal in the worst possible manner, losing serve early on, Isner found the strength to come back. The moment steering the rejuvenation occurred in the fifth game when his killer serve dug him out of big trouble. He hold to minimize the damage and continued to put pressure on the Serb, who eventually crumbled, failing to serve out the set at 5-4. Isner did great in taking his chances at the first time of asking and, with momentum on his side, he eventually closed the opener 9-7 in the tiebreak. Novak found something special in the second set, breaking John's blistering serves to level the match at one set all. The decider was an extremely tight affair, both player holding serve, despite the fact that the American had a match point on Djokovic's serve at 6-5. Nevertheless, Isner couldn't be denied. Unleashing some fierce serves, he proved the tougher of the pair in the tiebreak, winning it 7 points to 5.

As his quest for the first Masters trophy continues, he goes on face Roger Federer in today's final. Even though he defeated the Swiss in their last meeting, i.e. a surprise four sets victory in the Davis Cup tie, Federer is expected to be a very hard nut to crack this time. However, as he proved against Djokovic, Isner is not someone who can be easily written off.

Isner recorded his best career win as he took out world number 1 Novak Djokovic 7-6,3-6,7-6 in the semifinals at Indian Wells.

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John Isner a.k.a. the Marathon Man

After his unforgettable performance at Wimbledon in 2010, when he prevailed in an 11 hours and 5 minute contest with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut to set a new record for the longest tennis match ever, American John Isner gave another testimony of his resistance while tackling Argentinean David Nalbandian in the second round at Melbourne. 

Although Isner was the higher ranked player, Nalbandian, a former Grand Slam finalist, is still one of the most dangerous opponents on the tour, thus odds looked pretty even prior to the clash. And they remained so for most of the match, as there was little separating the two after they split the first four sets. Even though Isner has built himself a legacy as a marathon man following his Wimbledon epic, Nalbandian is no stranger to going the extra mile. He showed incredible fighting spirit and determination many times in his career, coming out on top of some fierce five setters. He did so especially during his fairytale run to the Wimbledon final in 2002, but also more recently, at the last year's Australian Open, when he broke the hearts of the crowd by beating the Aussie darling Lleyton Hewitt.

The decisive moment of the battle came in the 17th game of the decider when the Argentinean benefited from several break points. Struggling to dismiss a third opportunity for Nalbandian, John cracked down one of his powerful aces. The serve was called out, but the French referee Kader Nouni over-ruled. What followed was one strange incident. Nalbandian hesitated, but then decided to challenge the call via hawk-eye. Nuoni objected, arguing that it took too long for him to make up his mind and decided that the call stands, sending the game back to deuce. An angry Argentinean blasted the empire for several minutes and his ourburst proved extremely costly in the end. Not only did he lost that game, but he was broke immediately after by a clearheaded Isner who sealed a sensational 4-6,6-3,2-6,7-6,10-8 victory after 4 hours and 41 minutes of play.
While David used the press-conference to express once more his indignation, Isner declared himself delighted with the triumph, praising particularly his serve: ""[The] only thing that was keeping me in [it] was my serve. From the back of the court [he] was just not missing much and playing aggressively and playing really well. I knew he was capable of that. I mean, I was hoping he wasn't going to pull it out today. I felt like he played well, but I just hung in there. Eventually it paid off." The American, who hit 43 aces and 88 winners during his last performance, goes on to face Spaniard Feliciano Lopez next.

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