This was one of those matches that just wouldn't end. Slated to start at about 7 PM, rain delays caused the match to be mostly delayed until about 10:30 PM. There was another delay around 11:30. The first set was taken by Monfils off a late break. Isner got an early break in the second
Donald Young has been on the tour as long as Sam Querrey, but because Sam Querrey is tall with a huge serve, he had more early success than Young. Young has mostly been toiling in Challengers and has struggled to get a big win. He did get a big win earlier in the year, beating
Last year, Fish followed up a Newport win with an Atlanta win and this began his steady progress to eventually reach the top ten for the first time in his career. This year, John Isner, who was the Atlanta finalist last year, hoped to do the same. While Fish was playing Davis Cup this year,
Muller's one of those players that had potential when he was a junior. One of the rare players from Luxembourg, Muller has had random success. He was the last player, other than Federer, to beat Nadal at Wimbledon (well, prior to this year). He beat Andy Roddick during the "mojo" year at the US Open
Unless you happen to live in the West Coast of the US, you are likely in the middle of an American heat wave (apologies to non-Americans reading this). Temperatures are topping 100 (high 30s in C) in many locations. And in the middle of this heat wave, Atlanta is running a tournament. This is the
When John Isner wasn't picked to play Davis Cup, this freed him to play Newport. This year and last, John Isner was eliminated in the second round of Wimbledon. Last year, it was after a marathon match with Nicolas Mahut when he faced Thiemo de Bakker who also had a long match, but clearly not
Everyone knows Wimbledon is the premier grass court tournament. What few people outside of avid tennis fans know is there's another grass tournament in the US. Normally, because so few players actually like grass--many prefer hard courts or clay much better, the draw at Newport, site of the Tennis Hall of Fame, is often weak
Of course, no one expected Isner-Mahut to run 5 sets and last 3 days. Both players were probably relieved that there wouldn't be a marathon match. They played on a different court (Court 1) with a different umpire (Lars Graff instead of Mohamed Lahyani) and a different outcome. Isner was favored, although his ranking had
It's hard to believe, but over the 6 years that Nadal has played the French Open, he's never played a 5-setter. They don't call Nadal the king of clay for nothing. He has played two French Opens without dropping a set. It's perhaps not surprising that John Isner might be the kind of guy that
It's an all-American affair just as we knew it would be. OK, so we didn't expect this final at all. Oh, the Nadal-Djokovic final? That we did expect. I'm talking doubles. The top seed were, as usual, the Bryan brothers. However, they were eliminated by another American duo: Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick. The team
