John Isner reveals Roger Federer's biggest strength
John Isner defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets, 7-6 7-6, to reach the Miami Open finals. The American player spoke about how the experiences may have played a role on the score: "It may have helped a little bit. But you see a lot of times where someone can have all the experience in the world or some teams can have all the experience in the world and they don't come through against an inexperienced opponent. May have had something to do with it. Maybe he was a little bit fatigued, also, which is not an experience thing, because he came through qualifying. So prior to this match he had played three more matches than I have. So could have been a little bit of inexperience and maybe a little bit of fatigue, also."
Isner also commented on how being a defending champion could have influenced him: "I don't think that's -- you know, that's not what's taken the pressure off me. I think someone told me if I lost my first match here, I'd be 12 in the world. Like, big deal, you know. That's really good. So I just looked at it like that. You know, there is no pressure, really. It's just another tournament. Just because I did well in it last year -- I mean, if this was eight years ago, I might have felt that pressure. But now, I don't ever think about defending points or anything like that. I have done that enough throughout my career to worry about that. I used to worry about that, but I don't anymore."
Isner is aware of one of Federer's biggest strengths: "I think we saw last night in his match that chip return gave Kevin some trouble. Kevin's a big guy, and Roger, with that chip return, it's something that he can do in his sleep. He just gets it down low and gets it short. He almost forces his opponent to come in. At that point, you have to hit a great approach shot and a good volley to win the point, because he's going to have a look at a pass if you make the shot, and it's very difficult to do. There are some things tactically, especially on second serves, that I'll try to avoid maybe. Not go into his backhand as much. But he can do that, as I said, in his sleep. It's an incredibly high-talent shot that not many players can do, but he can do it all the time."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2JSwsoj
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