By Chris Oddo | Sunday July 30, 2017
John Isner edged Ryan Harrison in two tiebreakers to claim his 4th BB&T Atlanta Open title.
Photo Source: Kevin C. Cox/Getty
John Isner suffered a temporary speed bump against Ryan Harrison in Sunday’s BB&T Atlanta Open final but when the dust settled Isner hoisted the trophy for a fourth time after a hard-fought 7-6(6), 7-6(7) victory.
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Harrison proved to be a worth adversary in the first all-American final at Atlanta since 2011, and he even snapped Isner’s streak of 75 consecutive service holds early in the second set (a streak that last an impressive seven matches and an additional 6 games), but the 32-year-old quickly responded with a break of his own to get on the board in set two.
Isner regained his dominance on serve from that point, delivering giant serves whenever he found himself in any trouble, and finished the match with 23 aces and only the single break point faced. But Harrison was right with Isner in both tiebreakers, earning set points in both sets.
Unfortunately, those set points came on Isner’s serve. Even though Harrison was able to get a look at a second-serve with Isner serving at 5-6 in the opening-set tiebreaker, a huge kick serve by Isner led to a forehand that drew an error.
Isner won the next two points to take a one set lead.
Isner hammered an ace when Harrison threatened again, leveling the second-set tiebreaker and then taking the final two points to clinch his victory in one hour and 47 minutes.
Isner improves to 27-4 lifetime at Atlanta with his victory. Four of his 12 career titles have come at Atlanta, where he has reached the final in seven of eight appearances. With his run of eight straight victories he will return to the Top 20 next week for the first time since January.
Isner will pass Jack Sock and become the No.1-ranked American when the ATP releases rankings on Monday.