Miami Open - MS 1000 Final

[El Dude]

Lol! That's not a good nickname mate. Not sure if you folks across the water use the slang word 'jizz'. If you don't look it up!

We certainly do, and it was intentional - although I can't claim to have made it up. It must have been Darth or Front.

 

[El Dude]

I'm not 100% sure, but John Isner--at 32, almost 33--may be the oldest first time big title winner in Open Era history, or at least since the very early years. I'll have to do some research.

OK, found three first-timers who were older:

*Marty Riessen was 33 yrs, 1 mo when he won the 1975 Philadelphia WCT.
*Mark Cox was 33 yrs, 4o when he won 1976 Stockholm.
*Andres Gimeno was 34 yrs old when he won the 1972 French Open, but his inclusion is questionable as he won bunch of titles before the Open Era, at least one of which was presumably Masters level or better. But who knows.

If you're wondering, Ivan Ljubicic was 30, almost 31, when he won the 2010 Indian Wells.

 

[kskate2]

@El Dude While not a huge event, Muller won his first ever title last year. He had to be in his 30's.

 

[the AntiPusher]

One of these days Isner may get hot like this, where his serve is untouchable and he may snatch a grand slam title. I said this about 5 years ago ..it still may happen ..you never know

 

[Chris Koziarz]

@El Dude While not a huge event, Muller won his first ever title last year. He had to be in his 30's.

That was Sydney 2017 my backyard: 5km (3mi) from my home. Even Rocket was there smelling history, even though his favourite player Fed wasn't. Gilles was 33y8mo.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

That was Sydney 2017 my backyard: 5km (3mi) from my home. Even Rocket was there smelling history, even though his favourite player Fed wasn't. Gilles was 33y8mo.

Ya, but Dude was talking about oldest first time winner of a big title.

 

[lob]

Really happy for Isner. It felt good hearing his heart warming victory speech. With so much media attention at the very top, so many veterans have spent their entire careers under appreciated. He often gave Fed and other top guys very tough matches.

One would expect the tall big servers like Isner, Querrey, Anderson, Karlovic and Mueller to at least get to the quarters at Wimbledon. The grass on the Centre court and Court 1 has become a mysterious surface of sorts.

 

[Moxie]

I think there has never been. People don't seem to like Isner. If he continues to play like this, I will watch him more often.

In fairness to Isner, it's Easter. I would have watched. A lot of people probably had a lot else to do today. Was it a good match?

 

[atttomole]

In fairness to Isner, it's Easter. I would have watched. A lot of people probably had a lot else to do today. Was it a good match?

It makes sense. I think it was a good match. Isner is playing with more fight than ever before. Both had break points that they failed to convert, but Isner had many more than Zverev. They both served well in clutch situations. Isner lost most of the points at the net when he had to deal with low balls, which is understandable given his height. Without Isner's poor net play, the match would have been much shorter.

 

[mrzz]

I saw an extended highlights reel. Isner is riping his forehand and all credit for him. Zverev, on the other hand, was visibly tight on a lot of important points. You don't win big ones like this.

 

[Moxie]

I saw an extended highlights reel. Isner is riping his forehand and all credit for him. Zverev, on the other hand, was visibly tight on a lot of important points. You don't win big ones like this.

Not having seen the match, but based on recent results, I wonder if Zverev is buying too much into his own hype, and afraid to play like what brought him to the party.

 

[herios]

Zverev has nothing to be upset about. He had a great tournament, after playing quite subpar for the last 7 months or so.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I wonder how much jack sock winning a Masters gave motivation to Isner

 

[Andy22]

Isner always been a very unrated player and best of 3 sets suits he's game, glad he finally won of these masters events.

 

[Moxie]

I wonder how much jack sock winning a Masters gave motivation to Isner

I hope the Americans are goading each other to bigger wins. I don't know, but Isner seemed inspired at the business end of Miami.

 

[herios]

Let's not forget that Isner was leading the American tennis for quite sometime, since Fish got ill, before last year when he started slumping down and got passed by either Querrey or Sock or both.
He became #3 American player and I thought that he is done as far as a top 10-ish player.
Now he rebounded in a spectacular fashion, getting back to the top 10 by winning his biggest title to date .
In this transitional period with lots of older players injured, opportunities will be there for those who will rise to the occasion.