| By Chris Oddo |
Photo Credit: Remy de la Mauviniere/AP Photo |
(April 6, 2012)—There was a huge storm in Monte Carlo today, and it had nothing to do with the near-perfect weather. Hurricane John Isner swept across the cozy seaside tennis complex at the Monte Carlo Country Club, engulfing everything in its way.
When the storm subsided, the Americans had drawn even in their Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal with the French.
John Isner’s 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 victory over world No. 13 Gilles Simon leveled the Americans with France, 1-1 heading into Saturday’s doubles tie.
“You can see what experience has done for John,” said American Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier. “It’s nice to see where he’s come, and the confidence that he’s bringing to the court.”
Isner, eschewing the long rallies and low-risk tactics that normally define clay-court tennis, instead revved up his high-octane game even more for the occasion. He smashed 30 forehand winners, won 22 of 30 points at the net, and threw in 9 aces for good measure.
“He is such a beast out there,” said Courier after the match, obviously thrilled to have the beast on his side. “I’m glad he wasn’t playing back in my day.”
Simon never really had a chance, as Isner’s level stayed high throughout the two-hour, seven-minute affair. “I took the court very confident,” Isner said. “To me no matter who I was going to play today, I was going to feel confident no matter what.”
Isner set a commanding tone in the first two sets, hitting 33 winners to only 4 for Simon, and he took many mammoth cuts at Simon’s first serve offerings with good results too.
“I think today that John played better tennis than me,” Simon said afterwards. “For sure in the first two sets.”
The 6’9” American regularly teed off against Simon’s high-bouncing topspin with his forehand, sending monstrous drives into the corners and keeping Simon on defense for most of the match.
“Even on clay, every time you just want to play high because you are used to playing this kind of tennis on the clay,” said a perplexed Simon in an interview afterwards. “For him it’s good because it’s another good hit for him. He can hit very hard and play some powerful forehands, so it’s very difficult to know the way to play against him.”
Earlier in the day, world No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed precisely three hours to dispatch 19-year-old Ryan Harrison in four sets. After dropping the first two sets, Harrison showed resilience to take the third, but he eventually fell, 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
In Harrison’s first live Davis Cup rubber, he showed promise, but not enough to avoid losing his 12th consecutive match to a top ten player.
Still, Captain Courier liked what he saw from the youngster. “I thought it was a great day of experience for Ryan, I think there’s a lot for him to look at from that match and to work on and improve, because he was in that match,” said Courier. “Jo Tsonga’s one of the best players in the world and Ryan came out here in his first live Davis Cup match and was very competitive.”
Tsonga took the initiative against his less experienced opponent, smacking 60 winners and winning an impressive 33 of 44 points at the net. By the time Harrison got his bearings, the Frenchman still had another gear to go to. He used it in the fourth set, breaking Harrison twice to seal the opening victory for the French.
“It was a bit up and down, but it’s tough to play on clay after the hard-court,” said a relieved Tsonga.
“I think that I just wasn’t quite as imposing and aggressive as I could have been,” said Harrison, “especially on some of my break point opportunities.”
Harrison and Tsonga each earned 13 break point chances on the match, with Tsonga breaking three more times than the young American.
Asked to look ahead to a Sunday’s highly anticipated clash with Isner, the soft-spoken, joyful Tsonga seemed far from intimidated. “It’s going to be a big match here at this beautiful place,” he said. “This is why I play tennis.”
On Saturday, the Bryan Brothers will take the court in the doubles against the French pairing of Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau.
In Sunday’s reverse singles, Tsonga will play Isner first, with Harrison meeting Simon in the final match.