Isner Outlasts Tiafoe In All-American Thriller

Zheng Upends Gold Medalist Puig

August 29, 2016 | By Brian Coleman

In what was the best match of the day session on Monday, Americans John Isner and Frances Tiafoe squared off in what seemed more like a boxing match than a tennis match.

Isner, who is known as one of the biggest hitters on the tour, was met by an aggressive Tiafoe, whose devastating forehand and outstanding movement allowed him to jump out to an early lead.

Tiafoe went ahead 3-0 early, only to see Isner win three straight games to even the opening set at three-all. But Tiafoe had one more break in him, and hit nine winners to take the first set in 28 minutes.

Both players would trade blows in the second set, but once again it was Tiafoe it would get the upper hand, securing the set’s lone break point to take the commanding two-sets-to-love lead.

But Isner would not go away quietly, fighting back in the third set, attempting to come back from the two sets deficit for only the second time in his career.   Neither player could break in the third set, and it was Isner who edged Tiafoe in a tight-tiebreaker to extend the match into a fourth set.

Building off of his momentum, Isner played an excellent fourth set. He committed just five unforced errors and broke on two of his three chances to take the set 6-2 and force the match into a decider.

Tiafoe would pick up the early break, and gave himself a chance to serve for the match at 5-3. But Isner played what he called his best return game of the match and broke Tiafoe to bring it to 4-5.

“I just tried to stick with it,” said Isner. “Was able to get back into that set at 5-4 and actually, even though I was pretty haggard out there, I got a jolt of energy when I got it back to 5-4.”

The match would head into a deciding tiebreaker, and Isner’s experience helped pull him through. He won seven of the 10 points in the tiebreaker and completed just the second two-sets-to-love comebacks in his career.

“The atmosphere was amazing. [It was] standing room only in that fifth set. The crowd was going nuts,” said Isner. “I feel like I was due. I’ve lost a number of close matches this year, so to be able to pull that one out feels really good. And in that I pulled it out it feels especially good.”

As for Tiafoe, the five-set affair may be disappointing, but it showed he has what it takes to compete at this level.

“I think the positive is that I can play at that level, you know, on a big stage like that,” the 18-year old said. “Also that I think one day I can maybe have a good run at a slam. [I need] to just keep going on the practice courts and keep doing what I’ve been doing: working hard, get my strengths even better, and weaknesses to one day be strengths.”

Isner will take on Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis in the second-round. Darcis came back from two sets down to beat Australia’s Jordan Thompson 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-5 earlier in the day.

Fresh off her Olympic gold medal, Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig entered her first-round match on Monday with a ton of momentum. It showed early as the 32nd seed jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but China’s Saisai Zheng won 11 of the final 13 games to stun Puig and advance with the 6-4, 6-2 victory.

“It’s always a little bit tough, especially coming off winning the Olympic gold medal. A lot of pressure, a lot of expectation, but I can always continue to learn. That’s what I’m going to try and do,” said Puig. “All credit to her, though. She played well. She complicated me just enough.”

Puig committed 16 unforced errors in the second set and Zheng was just able to be more consistent in the big points down the stretch. She moves on to play Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round. Bondarenko ousted Su-Wei Hsieh 6-0, 7-5. 


Brian Coleman

 Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com

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