Amandine 8-28-2007 14:07
Isner Upsets No. 26 Nieminen
By Lisa Zimmerman
Monday, August 27, 2007
It was the match of young American John Isner's life. The wild-card player, facing No. 26 seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, dropped the opening set of this first-round meeting and then came back with everything he had, sending Nieminen home early with a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 final score.
With a strongly partisan crowd backing him, Isner, the 22-year-old North Carolina native, came out strong. In the first set, he and Nieminen seesawed back and forth never relinquishing their serves. At one point, the 6'9" Isner saved a point when a ball, which for most players would have been out of play, sailed over his head; he simply stuck his racket in the air and sent the ball riccocheting back toward Nieminen. Isner walked away from the net with a sheepish grin, having won the game.
Isner, appearing in his first-ever five-set match, made Nieminen work for every point, taking him to a tie-break in the first. Although Neiminen took the first set, both players' energy and intensity stayed high, with a spirited mid-second-set rally further exciting the already animated crowd. Up 4-2 in the second set tie-break, Isner double-faulted and lost the next point, but then came up with three straight points to take the set.
Throughout, Isner relied heavily on his serve, ultimately racking up a total of 34 aces to Nieminen's 12, compensating for his 70 unforced errors. "I don't hold anything back," said Isner. "I go for broke on first and second serve. Today I was real confident about my serve."
The two continued to battle through the third set, working their way into a third tie-break, which Isner held to take from the five-year US Open veteran.
"This is the best serve I have seen on court," said Nieminen of Isner. "[I] just couldn't read his serve during the whole match. [And], it's really mentally demanding to win matches against top players. He's doing it really well."
In the fourth set, Isner saved four break points before getting the first break of the match. As he went up 4-3, the excitement inside Louis Armstrong Stadium reached a whole new plateau. Nieminen, however, looked annoyed and dejected.
Moments later, with Isner serving for match point, all Nieminen could do was smile. Then Isner produced his final ace of the day and logged his first-ever Grand Slam win into the record books.
"To beat a guy like Jarkko means a lot to me," said Isner, who will next face qualifier Rik De Voest of South Africa. "I know I can go out and compete."
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_0827_047_isner.jpg[/img]
Isner wins!
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_0827_048_nieminen.jpg[/img]
Nieminen forehand