Return of The Is
It seems like an enternity since I blogged about John Isner, doesn't it? Well, not really. But after things came fast and furious at the Legg Mason tournament, we had a break from Isner blogging after he lost in the first round of the Cincy Masters (I'm scrapping that whole Western & Southern Financial thing, too long) to No. 16 David Ferrer (who went on to knock off Andy Roddick and reach the quarters).
Well, The Is (the key to making a nickname stick? Repetition, Repetition, Repetition) is back in action today in the first round of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament. And he's got a very winnable match. Why? Because he's already beaten his first-round opponent, Benjamin Becker. The Is (repetition, people) knocked off Becker in the second round at the Legg Mason tournament. They are the second match on Center Court in the evening session, which starts at 7 p.m.
So confidence should not be a problem for John (okay, even I was starting to get annoyed by The Is), whose ranking slipped down to No. 199 after he went a week without picking up a point.
The ranking stakes in this one aren't nearly as high as last week, but then again, the competition level at Cincy is arguably the highest on the tour - Grand Slams included. So if Isner knocks off Becker to make the second round, I believe he picks up five ranking points. I said believe, because it's hard to make sense of the ranking chart on this one.
You can follow along on the live scoring feed at www.pilotpentennis.com.
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