tt stern-enzi (recap of live coverage)

Featured Match of the Day: Florian Mayer (Ger) vs John Isner (USA)

Isner snags attention during today’s daytime session because he happens to be the current points leader in the 2013 Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge. He’s 15 points ahead of Rafael Nadal with a chance to compete for $1 million in bonus prize money at the 2013 US Open.

Isner’s game seems tailor-made for such a run through the US Open Series. His length, which allows him to generate commanding heat and pinpoint placement on his serve, assures deep strikes into the later rounds of tournaments. That edge was on display during his first round match with the crafty German Mayer.

The match began with a 117 mph ace that froze Mayer thanks to excellent placement, but it was evident that Isner’s game plan would be to mix power with punching kick and his ability to find all kinds of angles in the service box to set-up and execute short points. Through much of his career, Isner has had to fend off the notion that his height constrains him, making him less mobile and easy to handcuff, but his size and its benefits allows him to push his opponents into a similar pinned in position.

He attacks as aggressively in his return game and has a real ease at the net. Only once during the match was Mayer able to get an effective lob over Isner (which Isner turned into a dryly comic moment based on the way he spun around to watch – and attempt to will the shot to go long – as it dropped safely into play inside the baseline). From the start, there was a feeling of inevitability at play; that we were simply waiting for Isner to break Mayer because it was highly unlikely that Mayer was going t be able to crack the code of Isner’s serve.

In the end, the match hung on a couple of points on Mayer’s serve. It was fascinating to watch the loose limbed, free-flowing swing of the lanky German, but Isner stuffed him into a tight space, far behind the baseline driving him further and further back with strong serve and volley play. Mayer was never able to open things up for himself on his serve because Isner switched the script, moving him side-to-side, sometimes completely off the court with acute angles and slicing drop shots.

The 6-3, 6-4 score for Isner captured how he has been able to routinely, in workmanlike fashion, bulldoze his way through the early rounds, ensuring a steady stream of accumulated points in the bonus play system. And with the occasional win or two, Isner sets himself up as a quiet mover, a usurper in the waiting ready to seize the prize in his sight. Keep an eye on him.