It isn’t hard to get a sense of what former Georgia Bulldog John Isner is feeling when he’s on the tennis court.
Isner, 36, pumps his fist and waves at the crowd when he wins a point. He talks to himself and hangs his head when a point slips away. In any given match there are moments when he speaks to the crowd, whether in frustration or in celebration.
“This whole tournament I’ve been really composed on the court,” Isner said. “I’ve been even keel and positive when I needed to be. I don’t think in any of my four matches I’ve been too negative and that plays a huge part (in success).”
He had good reason to stay positive Saturday night, as he defeated American Taylor Fritz 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 to advance to the Truist Atlanta Open final Sunday against American Brandon Nakashima.
The victory sends Isner to his ninth Atlanta Open final, where he’ll be looking to win his sixth. Sunday’s match is also the fifth All-American final and Isner has been a part of all of them.
He’s had unprecedented success in the tournament, playing in more than half of the finals, but Isner isn’t taking the opportunity lightly.
“You never know when your last final is going to be,” Isner said. “I’m happy to be in another one. I guess it makes sense that I’m in another final here. It seems like I play a lot on Sundays here.
“There’s going to be a day where I’m not playing anymore,” he continued. “Hopefully in my case I can walk away from the game on my own terms and maybe not go away when I start stinking really bad on the court. I don’t know when that time is going to be. Right now I’m happy to still be playing and playing well.”
Though the stands were filled with fans wearing red, black and the iconic ‘G’ Georgia Bulldogs logo, it wasn’t an easy win that the fans were hoping for.
As has been the case all week, there were few breakpoints and the first set went to a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was the first time in the set that either player was able to break serve. Isner won the point behind some strong volley and net play.
Throughout the three-set match, there were only two breakpoints won and Fritz and Isner combined for 47 aces.
“The courts are very conducive to good serving,” Isner said. “You look at the stats really this whole tournament from all the matches being played, in my opinion it’s a server’s court.”
Fritz played like the top-50 player he is in the second set. He forced Isner to make several faults and made him work the court, something that Fritz has done all tournament.
Prior to the final set, Isner walked out of the dressing room to a slight ovation. Quickly Isner took a 2-0 advantage, letting out a yell, pumping his fist and waving to the crowd to get louder.
“That third set breakpoint, I was a little bit tired, but that helped me relax a little bit because I knew I had to go for it,” Isner said. “I had to play an aggressive point.”
Isner won the next point and Fritz held serve to make it a 3-1 set.
Two points later is when Isner felt he had the match won.
“That 4-2 game was huge because I felt really confident after that,” Isner said. “At 5-2, I knew if I didn’t break, which was likely, I knew I could serve it out and I did.”
Now, Isner will face the 19-year-old who beat him last week in the semifinals in Los Cabos, Mexico. Nakashima defeated Isner 7-5, 6-4, en route to his first career final.
Isner was very blunt in talking about Nakashima beating him a week before.
“He was just better than me, plain and simple,” Isner said. “Not that it surprised me or anything, I just wish I could have been a little bit better. I’m going to need to be better if I’m going to beat him tomorrow. He’s obviously full of confidence with back-to-back finals for him.”
Saturday’s victory for Isner came at around 10 p.m., a welcomed time after Isner’s quarterfinal match finished closer to 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
He’s glad he’ll get more rest ahead of the final, which starts at 5 p.m. Sunday.
“I feel good,” Isner said. “I’m happy that it’s a bit earlier tonight. I went to bed at 3:45 last night after I ate, slept and did treatment. Maybe I can get to bed by midnight tonight.”
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