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Isner rolls Haider-Maurer and into the third round

By Brandon Roertgen

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A rejuvenated and more physically fit John Isner defeated Andreas Haider-Maurer on Thursday afternoon in Melbourne Park. He will await the winner of Gilles Muller and Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

After spending a majority of the offseason in Los Angeles practicing with new coach and former player Justin Gimelstob, Isner has come into Australia looked fresh and confident. He has been hitting his forehand and backhand up the line with consistency and looking more in charge as he approaches the net.

Sep 12, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; John Isner (USA) in action during his match against Norbert Gombos (SVK) at Sears Centre Arena. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Isner started out serving and held very easily, as expected. In Haider-Maurer’s first two service games, the American fought and matched every shot. In the third service game for the Haider-Maurer, Isner was able to secure a break after the Austrian’s forehand went long.

That break put Isner up 4-2 and as a fan on twitter added, “Isner has the break, the match is over.” With a serve that is at the level Isner’s is, a break means the worst for the opponent. The American served out the first set, 6-4, in 30 minutes.

In the second set, Haider-Maurer held his ground more firmly. Haider-Maurer served at a higher level and appeared to make fewer unforced errors.

On serve in the second set, at 4-3 in favor of Haider-Maurer, he grabbed a 0-30 lead. With a half-chance to break the Isner serve, Isner served an ace out wide. On the next point, Haider-Maurer buried a forehand into net, causing him to let out a scowl in disbelief. At 30-30, Isner hit a rare double-fault to give Haider-Maurer a break opportunity.

The next point was quite the heart-breaker for the Austrian as Isner hit a forehand off the tape. Haider-Maurer just got to the ball before the second bounce and he mini-lobbed it back over. Isner crushed the ball away as he fended off a break point. In the next two points, Isner fired a couple nonreturnable serves, including a massive second serve to hold at 4-all.

The set went to a tiebreaker, where Haider-Maurer jumped out with the first mini-break to go up 2-1. The American fought back and won both points on Haider-Maurer’s serve and then held his own serve to flip the scoreline and go up 5-2. After Haider-Maurer held serve, Isner won both points on his side and took the second set, 7-4 in the breaker.

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In the third set, Haider-Maurer became more aggressive. The set was really uneventful, Isner was not able to really grab hold to anything during the Austrian’s service games. Isner served well, except for during his second service game where he had a lapse in rhythm. A few careless points later and he down a break, which would be enough for Haider-Maurer.

In the fourth set, the big serving and focused Isner returned. He was more aggressive at the net again, similar to the first set and got into a few of Haider-Maurer’s early games, but came away with nothing. Both players held their next several service games very easily. At 5-4 on serve in favor of the world No. 19, Isner hit four scorching forehands in succession to break and win the match.

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