John Isner prepares to unload a forehand. July 23, 2010 © GEM Tennis

Isner Breezes Through to the Semi-finals

American star and former University of Georgia Bulldog John Isner thrashed American veteran Michael Russell 6-1, 6-2. In a complete reversal of his first match here in Atlanta, Isner served and returned at an outstanding level. While he served 11 aces, the most important part of today’s match was his aggressive play in his return games as well as crisper movement around the court. “I always try and stay aggressive on the return especially on the first serve … second serve too,” Isner explained, “Even though I was staying back on the second serves I was looking to hit them high and heavy and not let him get a chance to get on offense right away.”

Isner attributed his better movement to the fact that he was seeing the ball better, “The way I was seeing the ball, reacting to the ball … my timing on my footwork was a lot better.” Isner truly is shaping up to make a run at the top 10 by the end of the US Open. This is the time of year where he has excelled in the past and with his experience at Wimbledon his support at all the North American tournaments will be great.

In the semi-final he faces South African Kevin Anderson. They’ve played three times at the professional level and Isner leads the matchup 2-1. Most of their matches feature tiebreaks and this one will be no different. The serve will be key. Both players are showing improvement in their respective return games and I think it’ll be interesting to see who takes advantage of the opportunities. For what its worth, Isner sounded very confident in this matchup.

- Parsa Samii, GEM Tennis (parsa@gemtennis.com)

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John Isner speaks to ESPN's Darren Cahill (far left) and Brad Gilbert (middle) after his defeat of American Michael Russell. © GEM Tennis