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7/25/09 4:52 AM | Ricky Dimon
A winner off the net cord on match point gives John Isner a three-set victory over Wayne Odesnik on Friday night. Isner is joined in the Indianapolis semifinals by Frank Dancevic, who upset No. 1 seed Dmitry Tursunov.
John Isner d. Wayne Odesnik 7-5, 6-7(2), 7-5
After two hours and 37 minutes of grueling tennis, Friday's nightcap at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships was decided by a shot that dribbled inches over the net cord. On his second match point, Isner hit a backhand that clipped the top of the net before the ball just barely made its way on to the side of a hopeless Odesnik, giving Isner a thrilling victory in the all-American quarterfinal.
Although it ended in improbable fashion, the match progressed in typical Isner fashion. No breaks of serve were had throughout the first 11 games of the proceedings, but Isner finally struck for the crucial first break with Odesnik serving to stay in the opening set at 5-6. Neither man could break serve in the second, but Odesnik earned three break-point opportunities along the way. The world No. 100 missed all three chances, but made up for it by dominating the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to two. Odesnik won all four of his return points in the decider.
Having just recently recovered from a bout with mononucleosis, Isner appeared all but finished after losing the second set. However, the 6'10'' Isner tried to keep points as short as possible in the final frame of play and he did just that with massive serves. Isner hardly even attempted to win baseline rallies, but his serve kept him competitive and allowed him to take a 6-5 lead. That's when the big man suddenly jumped out to a 15-40 lead before ending the match with final stroke of incredibly good fortune.
Isner fired a whopping 27 aces en route to setting up a semifinal showdown against countryman and doubles partner Robby Ginepri. The 95th-ranked Ginepri--one spot ahead of Ginepri--took out fellow American Alex Bogomolov, Jr. 7-5, 6-1 earlier in the day. Just like in Isner-Odesnik, the first break of the match came with Bogomolov serving stay in the opening set at 5-6. From there Ginepri never looked back, as the 2005 Indianapolis champion won all three of his return games in set two. Isner leads the head-to-head series with Ginepri 1-0, having prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker earlier this season in Auckland, New Zealand.
Frank Dancevic d. (1) Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
Seeds continued to fall in Indianapolis as Dancevic came back from a set down to upset the top-seeded Tursunov in two hours and three minutes. Tursunov had defeated Dancevic in straight sets in all three of their previous meetings--including in the Eastbourne final earlier this season--and for a while it looked like a similar outcome would be the result on Friday. The 27th-ranked Russian earned the firs break of the match at 4-3 in the first set and promptly served out the opening frame of play at love.
Dancevic returned the favor in set two, breaking at 4-3. The 121st-ranked Canadian failed to serve it out at 5-3, but he bounced back to take the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to five. One mini-break for Dancevic was enough to win the 'breaker, and it came in the form of a scorching down-the-line backhand at 3-2. From there the 2007 Indianapolis runner-up (lost to Tursunov) never looked back. Dancevic caught fire in the third set as Tursunov imploded, and the unseeded underdog broke at 1-1 and 4-2 to race through the final set. Dancevic finished with an impressive 18 aces en route to the semifinals, where he will face No. 3 seed Sam Querrey.
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notes from Isner-Odesnik: Isner really looked done in the second-set tiebreaker. Hitting second serves as hard as he could and double-faulting. Kept himself in it with big serving in the third even though he looked mentally finished.
Odesnik took an injury timeout at 2-3 in the third even though he was not struggling at all and that gave Isner some time to regroup. Questionable decision, as pointed out by Gilber, Cahill, and Drysdale.
Net cord was probably the luckiest match point I've ever seen. YouTube it if you haven't seen it.
RickyDimon , 7/25/09 5:01 AM