Valencia Open 500, Spain

[CR16] John Isner’s (USA) powerful serve was not enough to overcome the determined effort of [CR21] Tommy Robredo (ESP).  Isner’s lack of mobility along with some tentative play at net combined to give Robredo the victory.

This was not supposed to happen, Isner had never lost to Robredo; yet, there was something missing from Isner’s game today.  He was more agitated than usual and his response to his unforced errors was also more negative than usual.  Perhaps it was the realization that his desire to salvage the latter part of his season was rapidly slipping away, or perhaps there were other reasons that prevented him from executing his game plan.

Isner will be disappointed that he let this match slip out of his grasp. Until the tie-break, the match could have gone either way, but Isner was frustrated that he had not won the set already and his inability to remain focused on the task at hand cost him the tie-break. He lost it easily and it was just a matter of time before he lost the match because Isner’s lumbering gait was progressively getting slower the longer the match went on.

Robredo maintained his plan of attack and showed no mercy in running Isner from side to side, finally wearing him down both mentally and physically to win the match 7-6(3), 6-3.