68578BEC-4DF4-40D8-AC55-FA723D0482B0

(February 22, 2010) They are friends, doubles partners and will be Davis Cup teammates next month. On a memorable Sunday in Memphis, John Isner and Sam Querrey brought their ballistic brand of tennis to the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

In the tallest ATP final in history, the 6-foot-6 Querrey edged out the 6'9" Isner, 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 6-3 to capture his third career ATP title.

Querrey, who withstood 19 aces from Isner, registered the only two service breaks in the final set. Querrey finished with 17 aces and did not drop serve in the match.

''It feels great, but it's tough playing your good buddy like that,'' said Querrey, who collected the champion's check of $261,500 after winning his first title since Los Angeles last July. ''If I had to lose to anyone in the tournament, I'd want it to be him. So you're not going to get the same reaction out of me for winning this as you would if I was playing someone else.''

It was the second tournament final in three events this season for Isner, who opened the season winning the Auckland title. Isner carried a 12-1 record into the final and when he took a 5-2 lead in the second-set tie breaker, he appeared on course to capture his second title.

But staring down that deficit against one of the biggest servers in the game, Querrey dug in, strung together five consecutive points and won the breaker to level the match.

''To be honest, I felt like I was in control of the match the first two sets, although they were really close,'' Isner said. ''And I had the match on my racket. That's all I can ask for. But give credit to him. He played well when it counted — better than me.''

Querrey was nearly unstoppable in the final set, crunching 17 winners against only three unforced errors. Querrey, who beat Andy Roddick en route to the final, won 16 of 19 points played on his serve in the final set.

''He was serving just unbelievable in the first two sets,'' Querrey said. ''At 5-4 and 5-all (in the tiebreaker) he missed serves by an inch. I got kind of lucky there and put some second serves in play. Luckily for me, he missed that first forehand, and at 5-all I played a good point.''

The two friends remain close after the final: Isner rose to No. 21 in the rankings and Querrey is one spot behind him at 22. Both men will join twins Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan on the U.S. Davis Cup team that will travel to Belgrade for the March 7-8 Davis cup first round tie against a Novak Djokovic-led Serbian squad.

"There's been a lot of thrills for me,'' Querrey said. ''But this is definitely one of my best weeks. It's probably the biggest (tournament) win of my career, and it feels awesome.''

Photo Credit: Regions Morgan Keegan Championships