Andy Races into Quarter Finals

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Andy is through to the quarter-finals of the Aussie Open for the first time after taking John Isner to pieces, 7-6 (4) 6-3 6-2.

He’ll face Rafa Nadal next, after the defending champion beat Ivo Karlovic 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4.

By Andy’s own admission, Isner was the talk of the locker room beforehand but he cut a forlorn figure at the end, smashing his racquet in frustration as he was out-thought and out-fought.

Andy played smarter, and taking some juice off his first serve was key.

“I served really smart throughout the match,” said Andy. “I served a lot into his body and didn’t give him too many chances to attack my second serve.”

Isner didn’t have much more luck off the ground either as Andy offered up a miserly eight unforced errors, and no shortage of highlight reel points.

“I was trying to make him move from the back of the court,” added Andy. “Tried not to give him a chance to dictate, which is hard because he just goes for huge shots.”

Andy edged the first set-tie break 7-4 having fought off a set point at 5-6 that was almost anomalous given the previous 10 games in which he’d enjoyed the better fortune.

Playing a percentage game by dropping his first serve speed, Andy’s tactic denied the American too many looks at his second serve, and instead left him to dictate play off the ground.

Isner’s inside out forehand threatened occasionally, but by and large it was the American who was left to struggle with the variety of height and depth as Andy controlled the baseline exchanges and exposed his opponent’s movement with the drop shot.

And that theme accelerated in the second set as Isner endured a series of tricky holds, and Andy held comfortably.

Through a mixture of tenacity and good fortune – he was left stranded by a lob that floated just long on one break point – Isner stayed on serve until the eighth game when Andy took full advantage of triple break point for the 5-3 lead.

He had to tough out three break points of his own, but successfully served for the two set lead.

By now, a rather deflated Isner looked bereft of ideas and confidence, and he cut a sad figure for much of the third set.

The final nail in the coffin came on the Isner serve at two-all in the third: Andy sent an overhead back at the laces from way back in the court for triple break point, then converted with a ridiculous pass that was all but gift-wrapped for the BBC Breakfast TV news.

It wasn’t much of a surprise when the American greeted a double break with a smashed racquet and a code violation for his troubles, leaving Andy to serve it out with ease.

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