2012 BNP Paribas Open Semi-Finals : Isner Versus Djokovic - Preview

John Isner and Novak Djokovic will meet in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, U.S.A on Saturday, the 17^th March. It will be the third meeting between them.

They played against each other twice in 2010 with Djokovic winning on both the occasions. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. Djokovic has become the best player in the world for the last one year and Isner has achieved the best ranking in his career. Isner is playing with renewed confidence. His defeating Roger Federer in the Davis Cup was the hall mark of this confidence. However, his loss to Kevin Anderson in the Delray Beach tournament last month has instilled some doubts. Anderson fired an equal number of aces as Isner in that win. Djokovic serves well but does not fire that number of aces. Isner is not that good a returner and is likely to concede more points on the first serve of Djokovic. He however will win his service games in spite of Djokovic being one of the best returner in the game. If he takes the set to tie break, advantage lies with him.

Djokovic’s strategy will be to move Isner from side to side with occasional drop shot to place the ball beyond his reach. He plays angles with precision, especially when ball is short. His forehands are very deep, sometimes forcing the opponent to take them almost on half volley. Isner now possesses good ground strokes, but requires a good position to hit them. If he is on the run, precision will not be that much and he might commit forced errors. He cannot stay in the rally for long with Djokovic. He will attempt to rely heavily on his serve. He served 56% on first serve with eleven aces in the fourteen service games against Gilles Simon in the last match. This may not be sufficient to topple Djokovic. He will try to do even better with his serve so that he can win his service games and put pressure on Djokovic’s serve. His comfortable wins in the past have come with an average of 1.5 aces per service game. His other first serves were also not the usual ones where opponent is not able to return the ball well. Consequently, the percentage of points won on first serves suffered.  

Isner has played well against the top players in the past. He has taken Djokovic to five sets in Davis Cup 2010, has won against Federer in Davis Cup this year and led Rafael Nadal two sets to one in the French Open last year. He can play even better in a three set format against those who profess to have great stamina.

The outcome of the match will be on Isner’s serves. If his serves are working wonders, he can win; otherwise, the best player in the world wins.