Isner Edges Berdych in Thrilling Winston-Salem Final

By Erik Gudris

(August 25th, 2012) -- Defending champion John Isner stared down several match points against him in a thrilling final set tiebreak before coming back to beat Tomas Berdych in the finals of the Winston-Salem Open.

Though Berdych only served 36% first serves during the first set, it didn't stop him from breaking Isner's serve midway through to open up a 4-3 lead. Berdych looked the more comfortable on court while Isner played another error-filled game to allow Berdych to close out the set 6-3.

But then it was Berdych who tossed in three forehand errors of his own to start the second set allowing Isner to break the lanky Czech. With the local crowd firmly on Isner's side, Isner's level of play increased while Berdych's dipped in efficiency. Isner, with his 11th ace, sealed the second set 6-4 to force a decider.

The final set ended up being a serving battle though Isner struggled to make any headway with his ground game, having yet to hit a forehand winner for the match. With neither man having faced a break point in the set, the pressure mounted on both men at 5-all as Berdych struggled to hold his serve in a ten-minute long game before finally doing so.

Isner quickly held serve to force a tiebreak and though the American jumped out to a 3-1 lead, Berdych pulled even with him and then soon held his first match point at 6-5. But after setting up what should have been a winning backhand volley, Berdych instead hit the ball into the net making it 6-all.

Berdych would hold another match point at 7-6 only to watch Isner hit a 137 MPH serve out wide for 7-all. At 9-all, Berdych hit what looked like a winning crosscourt forehand, but the ball clipped the net and landed wide giving Isner 10-9. Isner closed out the match with only his second forehand winner of the match to repeat as champion with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) victory.

This marks the first time Isner defeated two top 10 players in the same event. Winston-Salem is the second title for Isner this year with his first coming at Newport earlier this summer.

(Photo Credit: Corleve/Natasha Peterson)