By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, March 6, 2016

John Isner transformed Kooyong's historic grass court into a launching pad to land the United States into the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

Isner blasted 49 aces, including a record 157.2mph missile in the third set, to clinch the USA's 3-1 first-round conquest of host Australia with a 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4) triumph over Bernard Tomic.

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It was the United States' first victory over its traditional rival since 1997 and its first win on Australian soil since 1982.

"I kind of felt that he could have come out a bit slow out of the gates and he did and I was able to take advantage of that," Isner told DavisCup.com. "Winning those first two sets was pretty crucial.

"I knew he was gonna make a push and he did. He certainly played better in the third set. He played a great game at 6-5 to break me. The crowd got behind him. I'm sure he was tired out there and feeling the effects of playing the week before and doing very well the week before and traveling over here. I'm sure adrenaline took over. But I didn't waver after the third set, I buckled down and played a pretty good fourth set."

Isner erupted from the outset.

Firing his inside-out forehand to Tomic's backhand to often elicit a floating reply, Isner used that tactic to set up a forehand volley winner and break for 3-2.

A lethargic Tomic tried the head-and-shoulders fake but bungled a routine forehand wide on set point, gifting the second set. Tomic struggled with a sore wrist, but Isner's massive serve and menacing forehand posed the biggest pain.



“I had so much pain in my wrist but I kept thinking about Davis Cup,” Tomic said. “No pain would stop me playing today. But I couldn’t really serve fast. It’s a shame.”

Captain Lleyton Hewitt encouraged Tomic to keep fighting. The Australian No. 1 battled through a long game earning his lone break to snatch a third set that had seemed in the towering American's control.

“I was fighting, he was serving ridiculous,” said Tomic, whose Davis Cup record dropped to 16-4. “Not much you can do, just try guess the right side.”

Down 1-3 in the fourth-set tie breaker, Isner unloaded on an inside-out forehand, Tomic steered his best shot, the two-handed backhand, long and Isner never looked back.

"People talk about John's serve and rightfully so, but his forehand when it's on, is one of the biggest shots in tennis as well," U.S. captain Jim Courier said. "He came good with that shot time and time again. It went away a little bit in the third set, but in the fourth when he needed it in the breaker, he clutched out."

The United States, which fell to Great Britain in the Davis Cup World Group opener in each of the last two years, will host either Croatia or Belgium in the July 15-17th quarterfinals.

A year ago, Isner was nursing emotional wounds after losing to James Ward and Andy Murray in Great Britain's opening-round triumph in Glasgow.

This time, Isner answered the call with authority.

"We put Davis Cup as top priority for all of us and I think it showed," Isner told DavisCup.com. "We prepared well, prepared smart and it paid off. It goes to show that Davis Cup can bring the highest of highs like today, and lowest of lows exactly a year ago, especially myself. That was brutal. I was in a bad place there, but now I'm very happy."