It is often said that there’s no place like home, and that certainly has rung true for John Isner at the BB&T Atlanta Open — held in his native Georgia — over the years.
So it was no surprise that the top seed beat fourth seed Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1 on Saturday to reach his eighth final at the ATP World Tour 250-level tournament. On Sunday, the American will try to lift his fifth trophy at the event against compatriot Ryan Harrison or Brit Cameron Norrie.
Isner now leads Ebden 4-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series after avenging his lone loss against the Aussie, which came earlier this season at the Australian Open. The 33-year-old has won eight of his nine semi-finals in Atlanta, and will look to improve his record of 13-12 in tour-level finals.
For a moment, it looked like a relatively straightforward match might have turned into a disaster for the 6'10" American. Isner led by a set and a break, which appeared to cement a victory considering he arrived in Atlanta leading the ATP World Tour in service games won this season at 94.63 per cent according to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats. After breaking back, Ebden saved one match point in the ensuing tie-break when Isner missed a backhand return long.
But instead of wilting in the Atlanta heat, Isner quickly recovered using the confidence from his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals and the title at the BNP Paribas Open, breaking twice in the decider to come out victorious after exactly two hours.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2NOC4wO
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