“I think John’s serve is going to be jumping off the court today,” ESPN’s Brad Gilbert said as he sat courtside in Miami on Friday. It was a fair guess: The sun was out, the temperature was close to 80, and whether he’s knocking it flat or kicking it high, Isner’s serve always has a bite to it.
What Gilbert and the rest of us didn’t foresee was just how much spring Isner would have in his own step. After holding serve in the opening game, he jumped all over Delpo’s, jarring the Argentine and breaking him with a forehand return winner, a backhand ground-stroke winner, and a forehand volley winner. That was just the beginning for the American. Freed up after that early break, he hit 19 winners to zero from Delpo in the first set, and won it 6-1 in 28 minutes.
Del Potro, as Isner noted afterward, was “low on fuel” after winning two straight tournaments, in Acapulco and Indian Wells, and surviving three close sets against Milos Raonic on Wednesday night. On Friday, even an indefatigable pro-Argentine crowd couldn’t rouse him until late in the second set. Several of his first serves in the early going barely broke the 105-m.p.h mark—that’s less than what Isner put on a few of his supersonic forehands today.
Match point from Isner's win over Del Potro in Miami:
