By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, March 28, 2021
John Isner crunched 16 aces edging Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(5), 7-6(5) advancing to the Miami fourth round for the sixth time.
Photo credit: Lindsey Godwin/Miami Open
John Isner hit the highs and lows sustaining his winning ways in Miami.
In a rematch of the 2019 Miami Open semifinals, Isner crunched 16 aces and scraped out a sensational low drop volley in the second tie breaker edging Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(5), 7-6(5) to advance to the Miami fourth round for the sixth time.
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Two years ago, Auger-Aliassime was a rising young star and Isner was defending Miami champion when the Canadian qualifier Felix Auger-Aliassime served for both the first and second sets only to see the towering American break back both times in squeezing out a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) triumph.
Today's rematch was devoid of a single break point, featured only a handful of rallies longer than nine shots and solidified Isner's status as titan of the tie break.
The lone former Miami champion still standing in the draw, Isner has won 13 of his last 14 Miami matches with the lone loss coming to Roger Federer in the 2019 final.
"I knew it was going to be tough," Isner said. "Felix is such an incredible player. These conditions are good for me.
"I think I knew at the very worst I was going to be able to make it a close match and make it come down to a few points here and there. That was the case today. Certainly there are some things I wish I would have done better, but all in all I'm happy to win the match and happy to move on."
On his first serve point of the opening tie breaker, Auger-Aliassime, apparently bothered by the breeze, badly bungled a routine smash well wide to gift the American the mini break. Isner rocketed a 96 mph forehand for a second straight mini break eventually extending his lead to 4-0.
The 35-year-old American detonated a 111 mph ace out wide earning three set point. On this third set point, Isner lasered a 131 mph missile down the T. Isner served 79 percent with seven aces and won 25 of 30 first-serve points seizing the 49-minute opener.
Auger-Aliassime drew to deuce on the big man's serve for the first time all day. Isner snuffed out the stress sliding a 126 mph ace down the T—his 10th ace of the day—evening the set after eight games.
Squinting into the sun to start the second-set tie breaker, Auger-Aliassime coughed up his fifth double fault of the day gifting the mini break.
That miscue looked fatal, but the Canadian flicked a forehand return winner down the line—his first return winner of the match—leveling at 3-3.
Serving-and-volleying on a second serve, the 6'10" Isner bent low digging out a brilliant backhand drop volley winner to level at 5-all. Had he missed that shot, it would have given Auger-Aliassime a set point. Instead, Isner dropped the hammer with a 132 mph ace for match point.
One of the day's longest rallies, a 13-shot exchange, ended with Auger-Aliassime missing a diagonal forehand ending a tight test in one hour, 49 minutes.
"He was serving very well and making a good amount of first serves," Isner said. "When he did make a first serve it was very, very tough on me.
"I think, if I remember correctly, I think he took off a bit of pace on that first serve on match point. So it allowed me to at least get into the point and probably one of the best points I played all match. You know, he had an uncharacteristic error at the end, but I'll take it."
Isner advances to another 2019 Miami Open rematch as he will take on sometime practice partner Roberto Bautista Agut for a quarterfinal spot.
The seventh-seeded Spaniard converted five of six break points in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over German Jan-Lennard Struff.
Two years ago, Isner topped Bautista Agut 7-6(1), 7-6(5) in the Miami quarterfinals. Today, the pair reunited for a pre-match hit and they'll square off again on Tuesday in a match pitting Isner's seismic serve against Bautista Agut's accurate return.
"I played Robbie here two years ago in the quarterfinals, so everyone knows how good RBA is," Isner said. "He's just rock solid. He doesn't give you anything, hits the ball so flat and he's so fast.
"He's actually a very good friend of mine. I warmed up with him and now we play each other in a couple of days so it's going to be fun. I always enjoy playing against him and it's always a tough test."