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John Isner back in Atlanta ATP Tennis final, plays rising star Brandon Nakashima

John Isner of the USA in action against Taylor Fritz of the USA during a men’s semifinal round match of the Truist Atlanta Open men’s ATP tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 31 July 2021. EPA-EFE/ERIK S. LESSER



By Ricky Dimon


Death, taxes, and John Isner making it to the Truist Atlanta Open final….

Those might as well be the three certainties of life.

Isner actually had not reached the final since 2019 (half of that had to do with the 2020 event being cancelled), but he is back in his most familiar spot on tour following a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3 semifinal win over Taylor Fritz on Saturday. In the 11th installment of this tournament, Isner advanced to his ninth final after two hours and 17 minutes.

After dropping serve for the first time all week at 5-5 in the second, Isner regrouped in the decider. Fritz also had not been broken a single time in the entire tournament, but his streak also ended when Isner converted a break point for 2-0 with a forehand volley winner.

Fritz’s only chance to get back on serve came at 4-2. The fifth-seeded American got into one of the points only to see his opponent save with a forehand drop volley. Isner snuffed the other one out with an ace. The 36-year-old managed to hold for 5-2 and then held his next service game easily to get across the finish line.

John Isner (L) of the USA greets Taylor Fritz (R) of the USA after Isner defeated Fritz in a men’s semifinal round match of the Truist Atlanta Open men’s ATP tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 31 July 2021. EPA-EFE/ERIK S. LESSER



“It feels good, for sure,” Isner commented. “You never know when your last final is gonna be. I’m happy to be in another one and I guess it makes sense I’m in another final here. I seem to play here a lot on Sunday, so I’m very happy about that.”

Up next for the sixth seed is Brandon Nakashima, who scored a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Emil Ruusuvuori earlier on Saturday. Nakashima fired 14 aces and double-faulted only once while prevailing in one hour and 54 minutes.

Brandon Nakashima of the US in action against Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland during a men’s semifinal round match of the Truist Atlanta Open men’s ATP tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 31 July 2021. EPA-EFE/ERIK S. LESSER



“I felt a little bit better today than yesterday (in the conditions),” he noted. “At the beginning, it wasn’t really the conditions I was struggling with that much–just more (that) he was playing well and I got off to a slow start. But luckily I was able to pick it up in the second and third sets…. I knew that if I wanted to come back and win the match I would have to pick up my serve a lot. Good thing I did, and I was able to get a few breaks along the way.”

Breaks could be few and far between in Sunday’s final given the way both Nakashima and Isner are serving. The 19-year-old surprisingly broke Isner twice in last week’s 7-5, 6-4 upset in Los Cabos, but now they are playing on Isner’s stomping grounds.

Nakashima ended up losing the Los Cabos final to Cameron Norrie.

“It would be really cool,” the former University of Virginia star said of winning his first title. “Definitely as I’m getting older I’m getting a lot more experience out there–especially playing against these older top guys. It’s always tough against them, but I’m doing pretty well.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.