Featured Match Previews
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tommy Haas 5 WC (GER) vs John Isner (USA)The big question in this second-round match is whether towering young-gun John Isner can serve his way past the veteran Tommy Haas for the third time in his career.
In their previous two meetings, Isner served up 52 aces to Haas's 29.
The 23-year-old Isner, 6'9", turned pro in June 2007 after graduating from the University of Georgia, where he was a four-time All-American. He quickly made a huge splash as a wild-card entry in Washington, his tour debut. He posted a record five straight wins in third-set tiebreaks before losing to No. 5 Andy Roddick in the final. Isner also fired 144 aces during the week, the most in a non-Grand Slam tournament since 1991. He finished 2007 at No. 107. He is currently ranked No. 96 with his best result realized at the San Jose quarterfinals.
For the last seven years, Haas, the one-time world No. 2 (May 13, 2002), has been hampered by a shoulder injury, and it has caused him to play a very limited schedule in 2008. Wimbledon was his first Grand Slam event of the year and only ninth tournament overall. He missed the Australian Open while recovering from right shoulder surgery, and the same recurring injury kept him out of the French Open. He returned from a six-week lay-off in Halle and advanced to the second round. In March, he reached the quarterfinals at AMS Indian Wells, then didn't win back-to-back matches again until Wimbledon, where he lost in the third round to Andy Murray.
Isner will be hard to beat if his serve is firing on all cylinders, but something tells me that Haas is finding his form and won't let the young American get three straight matches on him.Agree!
