It was probably the trickiest game for Roger Federer in the tournament, up against the big-serving American John Isner, who can easily disrupt your game using his chaotic serves & has a missile forehand.
The first set went on serves, just like Isner’s matches usually span out, and the American gave absolutely no look to Federer on his serve. The game plan was simple – keep the points short.
Whenever Federer was able to neutralize the Isner serve and force him into a rally, Isner never looked like winning that point, completely bamboozled by his opponent’s bravado.
Federer managed only about 45% of his first serves in, but was still able to hold all six games as the opening set went to a tiebreaker. And as soon as he got the mini-break on the very first Isner serve, the American crumbled under pressure and got bagelled in the breaker.
Federer and Isner both had plenty of chances to break each other, but managed to deliver strong serves to save all break points & the second set too went with the breaker. Isner looked animated throughout and got up 5-3 with some aggressive shot-making. That’s when Federer notched up another gear to get the mini break back and with a supreme backhand winner down the line, wrapped up the set.
From there on, John never looked like he was going to trouble the Houdini from Switzerland; Federer finally broke the Isner serve to seal the match 7-6 7-6 7-5 and booked a meeting with Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals of the US Open.
