John Isner Wins Men’s Miami Open Final Beating Alexander Zverev in Three Sets

John Isner has a strong start to the men’s final in Miami yesterday, and with it, he saw his first tennis masters win in his fourteen-year tennis career as he was victorious against Alexander Zverev 6-7, 6-4 and 6-4.

After the win, Isner, who stands 6 ft. 4 and is about to celebrate his 33rd birthday stood with a big grin that matched the powerful sunshine that basked the Miami Open yesterday. Isner’s previous Tennis Master final appearance all saw him being defeated, so today’s win, the last the Miami Open is being held at Key Biscayne is especially meaningful.

Isner commented after the match while receiving his trophy stating,

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

The 14th seeded Isner is the first male U.S player to win the Miami Open since 2010 when Andy Roddick won. This year proved to be an all-american affair as Sloane Stephens, who hails from the sunshine state also won in the women’s final. This is the first time since 2004 that both champions were American. The 2004 finals saw Serena Williams and Andy Roddick walking away with the trophies.

The crowds were in high spirits at the start of the match as Isner entered the court. This saw the match being delayed while crowds yelled out U.S.A! The match saw Isner recording 18 aces and 70 in the tournament. Speaking about today’s finals, Isner said,

“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.”

ATPWorldTour

John Isner is most known for his record match against Nicolas Mahut that went five sets and saw Isner winning. Yet, while he has one of the best serves in tennis, he had yet to make it to a semi-final in a Grand Slam. This is where his size has proven a liability as it impacts his movements on the court when rallying with opponents.

The run of wins at the Miami Open surprised Isner as he went into the tournament 1-6 and had suffered losses to players ranking into the 60’s and even 90’s.

For Isner, yesterday could not have been predicted commenting that,

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

However, the American played a near perfect semi-final match against Juan Martin del Potro and managed just enough to be victorious over Germany’s Alexander Zverev. Zverev, who was playing his 3rd final in a Masters 1000 was hoping to secure his third in less than a year but was unable to get the job done.

The finals at Key Biscayne were nearly sold out, and the energy was, at times, electrifying. During the final game, after Isner sent a forehand over the net to win the final match in the second set, he got the crowd roaring when he spun his finger in the air. The first game of the third set saw Zverev winning an intense rally betw een the two as both players went to the net.He emulated Isner’s move by waving his arms towards the crowd and his fans.

Isner’s returns tended to be inconsistent however his serve proved to be his shining light that allowed Isner to overcome those inconsistencies. He managed only twice to break-point and in the final game, lost service points three times. However, he only allowed Zverev three chances at break-point and with his serve at 83%, he managed to win the final game and set. Speaking on the number of baseline hits, Zverev said,

“I think I missed more shots today than I did in the whole tournament. 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.”

The win will see Isner going home not only with the trophy to proudly display in his trophy case, but a payday of $1,340,860, and Zverev, as a finalist will take home$654,380. This is equal to the amounts paid to the winner and finalist in the Women’s final as it should be and is good to see.