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John Isner wins the biggest title of his career in Miami

AFTER finally breaking a drought many thought would haunt him forever, John Isner channelled his inner Roger Federer.

John Isner broke his Masters drought.
John Isner broke his Masters drought.

JOHN Isner punctuated his unexpected run to the Miami Open title with a surprising display of agility, dancing across the court while basking in a breakthrough win.

The 2.08m Isner looked twice as tall skipping about with a grin brighter than the Florida sunshine. He had just won the biggest title of his 14-year career, holding every service game and rallying past Alexander Zverev 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 6-4 on Monday (AEDT).

Isner, who turns 33 this month, previously had been 0-3 in ATP Masters 1000 finals.

“You can’t replicate moments like this,” Isner said during the trophy ceremony. “I’m toward the latter part of my career; this is the best moment of my career.”

Seeded 14th, Isner became the first American man to win the tournament since Andy Roddick in 2010. Isner joined Sloane Stephens, who won the women’s title on Sunday, for the first US sweep in the event since 2004, when the champions were Roddick and Serena Williams.

The start of the last game was delayed by the crowd’s chants of “U-S-A!” Isner then held at love, and on the final three points he smacked aces, giving him 18 for the match and 79 for the tournament.

“I was just ready for this moment,” he said. “I’ve been here three other times, and I’ve lost three times on this stage. I was just ready for it.”

Isner possesses perhaps the game’s biggest serve but has never reached a grand slam semi-final, largely because a lack of mobility makes it difficult for him to stay in rallies. The string of victories on Key Biscayne surprised even him because he arrived with a record of 1-6 this year, including losses to players with rankings of 60, 62, 78 and 91.

“I couldn’t have scripted this,” Isner said. “I was playing very poorly. But that’s the way tennis goes. You gain a little confidence, and things start to roll your way.”

He’ll climb from 17th to ninth in the rankings, which matches his career high. He played an almost flawless semi-final to beat Juan Martin del Potro, and was just good enough against the fourth-seeded Zverev, a precocious 20-year-old German who was bidding for his third Masters 1000 title in the past 12 months.

Isner’s serve was on point.
Isner’s serve was on point.

Isner’s serve allowed him to overcome inconsistent returning, a succession of botched volleys and shaky play at crunch time. He converted only two of 12 break point chances and lost his final three service points in the tiebreaker.

But he gave Zverev only three break point chances, and Isner’s serve was at its best down the stretch. He made 83 per cent of his first serves in the final set. Meanwhile, baseline errors by Zverev mounted.

“I think I missed more shots today than I did in the whole tournament,” Zverev said. “I played bad from the baseline, but it’s not easy against John. You always feel the pressure that if you get broken, you might lose the set.”

Mindful of that small margin for error when he lost serve to fall behind 5-4 in the final set, Zverev let his frustration boil over. He slammed his racket to the concrete, picked it up and slammed it again, and then tossed it gently to the stands as a mangled souvenir.

When Isner sealed the victory four points later, he also tossed his racket — but in celebration.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/john-isner-wins-the-biggest-title-of-his-career-in-miami/news-story/82c7351caa9effc5c023c0e18a96ddeb