In his match with Mardy Fish in the first round of the Madrid Masters, John Isner spent some time skidding around the red clay, looking like a lanky suburbanite slipping on a slick sidewalk while trying to retrieve the morning newspaper. But when it mattered most, the big man found his footing and delivered the headline shot. Eyes riveted on the ball as if he was scanning its surface for a message written in fine print, Isner sprinted to his right and ripped a cross-court forehand pass to complete a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (3) triumph in stirring style.
The winner sealed a two hour, 54-minute match in which Fish did not drop serve and won two more total points (118 to 116) than his opponent, who worked up such a sweat that he drained six bottles of water in out-dueling his Davis Cup teammate. Isner quenched his thirst and leveled his 2011 record at 9-9, earning his first win since Houston last month.
Attacking Fish’s forehand, Isner earned four break points in the first set, but the 11th-ranked Fish refused to crack. He fought off three in the seventh game—saving the first with a beautifully controlled cross-court forehand that rattled Isner’s racquet—to earn a hard-fought hold for 4-3 in a game that spanned more than six minutes. Isner bounced back to earn a fourth break point in the ninth game, but Fish fired a pair of service winners and held for 5-4 when Isner shanked a forehand off the back wall.
Pregnant clouds thickened ominously, shrouding the sky like a curtain, and even before thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance, Fish said to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes “We’re not in a very good spot in a metal box with lightning. Maybe we should close the roof at some point.”
The retractable roof remained opened in the first-set breaker. At 5-all, Isner singed the sideline with his fourth ace that passed the inspection of Bernardes for set point. When Fish’s forehand down the line strayed long, Isner collected the opening set in 66 minutes.
Fish, who replaced his white K-Swiss baseball cap with a black headband, ripped a cross-court forehand return winner to earn double break point in the opening game of the second set, and earned the lone broke of the match when Isner double-faulted. But the big man would atone for his misfire in the final set, where he struck seven of his 13 total aces. Fish did his part on serve, too, and another breaker ensued. That's when the 6’9” Isner showed some soft hands in angling a fine forehand volley for a 5-3 lead, setting the stage for his sprinting forehand finale.
Next up for Isner is a second-round meeting with Sergiy Stakhovsky, who edged Albert Montanes, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (5).
—Richard Pagliaro