It was a classic John Isner performance at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The towering American dominated Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to win 6-3, 6-3 for a third straight title in the Georgia capital. All it took was at least a single break in each set for him to garner the momentum.

After that, he was blasting his serves like no tomorrow losing very few points on it. With the victory, he leads the Emirates US Open Series Bonus Challenge where the winner at the end of it gets a one million dollar bonus at the US Open. He also picks up 250 ranking points as well.

Early break seals the opening set

The match started off relatively normal for an Isner match. In the first few games, both men were trying to get a feel for how their opponent played and how they would approach it. With that being said, three holds kicked off the match. However in the fourth game, the former top ten American was looking to stamp his authority on the set.

In the opening point, he would hit a backhand passing shot winner and followed that up with a put away volley up 15-30 to set up two break points. The Cypriot double-faulted to hand the break to Isner.

He’d follow that game up with a simple, straightforward hold as Baghdatis looked to be in pain down 1-4. It was something in the lower half of his body. The toll of his grueling three-setter against Gilles Muller the night before had run its course. He was all over the court to track down every ball while skidding and sliding to get some of them. All those skids and slides wear you down over time (just ask Nadal).

It would be smooth sailing for Isner in the rest of the set as he took the opener 6-3. On set point, the serve was so high off the initial bounce, Baghdatis lost his racket. With a smile, he tried to get it back as he looked all good once again but may have done that to hide the pain and the fact he was down a set.

Another early break seals the set and match for Isner

After a visit to trainer trailer in between sets, Baghdatis looked the sharper of the two. A delicate drop shot-lob combo sealed his opening service game and even raced out to a 0-30 lead in Isner’s first service game before the American served his way out of trouble once again.

At 2-all, a deep service return from the American forced the Cypriot to take the ball on a half volley from the baseline. That ball sailed wide to give Isner the break and a stranglehold on the set.

A second break sealed the match for Isner as Baghdatis netted the forehand to give the American a three-peat in Atlanta. The American heads to Washington DC this week for the Citi Open as his next stop on the North American hard court circuit.

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About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.