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Day seven of the BNP Paribas Indian Wells features world no.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic up against home hope 18th seeded John Isner. The Tennis Review previews the action and predicts the winner.
John Isner at home, on hard court- the stuff of nightmares for Novak Djokovic. Isner’s first victory over Djokovic came at Indian Wells 2012 when he defeated the Serbian in a final set tiebreaker. Djokovic was world No.1 and had won four of the previous five slams, taking apart Murray, Nadal and Federer on his way, yet the game that left him scratching his head was Isner’s.
A year later in Cincinnati, Isner won 7-5 in the third in the quarter-finals as Djokovic struggled to hold onto his world no.1 ranking.
The high bounce of the Isner kick serve out wide, the sheer pace as it goes down the tee, the body serve you can only jam back and watch the ball go out or come flying past you- there is plenty about the Isner serve to keep even the game’s best returner frazzled.
It is not just the serve though that worries Djokovic. Even if he can get his racket on it, slow hard courts give Isner plenty of time to set up his huge forehand fired and hit through the court.
Only if Djokovic gets the return close to the baseline and can find Isner’s backhand or make him run does he have a chance to get into Isner’s service games.
But even if Djokovic does get into Isner’s service game, keeping him back and running is not a sure answer for Djokovic to the Isner problem. Isner won’t go for much on those points, will rally with Djokovic from the back of the court, and reach a lot of balls with his long arms and legs.
That play can work well for Isner- with rallies in short supply, the rhythm starved Djokovic, and Djokovic feeds off rhythm from the baseline like Isner feeds off his service rhythm, might find himself making errors on balls he does not usually have to think about against the lesser servers on tour.
That’s because he rarely does have to think about rallies against Isner. Isner will race through his service games with aces, service winners and forehands winners off short balls. Rallies will rarely exceed five shots.
Djokovic will get though his service games relatively smoothly, too.The world no.1’s serve is much improved now with more variety and his second serve is a weapon he can call on in tough moments. If his serve does let him down, Isner’s return is his weak spot, but he can get them in, and if he gets to 15-40, he will take a risk or two, and a risky forehand can pay off for the American.
That forehand has not been doing too much for Isner recently, which is good news for Djokovic. Isner’s two wins over Djokovic, the other in Cincinnati 2013, came on the back of successful streaks, but now, ranked 20, Isner is 3-6 on 2015 and has not been past the quarters of an event since he took the title in Atlanta late last July.
Isner did look impressive though in his second round win over Kevin Anderson, dismissing the South African in straights, and if Isner is going to start streaking, North American hard-courts are going to be where it starts.
The home support Isner receives will give him plenty of motivation and encouragement and, in a match Djokovic himself has said will come down to a few points, that support could be crucial at those critical moments.
Few players have handled the role of villian with more humor than Djokovic, though. But that miscasting can get to him, and that could be worth a priceless point for Isner when this match come down to the inevitable tiebreaks.
Isner is a titan of tiebreak where the serve is king. Djokovic will have to play his very best and be at his toughest mentally to take the rare opportunities he might get on the Isner serve when the match comes down to the wire.
Few men, however, perform better than the Serbian when the going gets tough, and few men bring that quality out of him more than Isner.
Prediction: Djokovic to win in three sets.
Watch highlights of Isner’s win over Djokovic at Indian Wells 2012.
Commentary by Christian Deverille
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