John Isner continued his quest for the BNP Paribas Open title by beating Adrian Mannarino 6-4 7-6 (4) on Stadium two. 

Late break seals the set

Isner and Mannarino held their opening service games comfortably to start the match off at 1-1. At 2-1 on the Mannarino serve, the big American had break point chances, but the Frenchman held a tricky game to stop Isner from taking control of the set.

At 5-4 in the set, Isner raced away to a 40-0 lead. With Mannarino struggling to keep up with the big server, he smashed a forehand long to gift Isner the opening set 6-4, to the delight of the crowd. 

Tiebreak decides the match

After taking the first set, Isner started out strongly in the second by holding to love for a 1-0 lead. The Frenchman would then match the American by holding his service game pretty comfortably. With neither player looking like faulting, they both continued to hold and stay level throughout the set, although Mannarino was being pushed that bit more of the two players.

A couple of games later and Mannarino would hold to send the second set into a tiebreaker. The world number 60 sent a forehand long to gift the 6 ft 10 inch American a mini break. Mannarino would fail to find his way back into the match and at 6-4, match point down, the number one American sealed victory at the first time of asking putting himself in the last 16 of the tournament 6-4, 7-6 (4). 

Adrian Mannarino hits a forehand return to Andy Murray1 during their 4th round match at the BNP Paribas Tennis Open. (Photo:Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)
Adrian Mannarino hits a forehand return to Andy Murray1 during their round four match at the BNP Paribas Tennis Open (Photo:Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)

Numbers

John Isner was perfect on his first serves, winning 100% of his first serves and 78% on his second serve. He hit 15 aces and served only one double fault. The American didn't need tosave any break points, but won only one of nine, giving him 11%. He would go on to win 57% of total points. 

Adrian Mannarino won 78% on his first serves and only 46% on his second. The Frenchman served one ace and had five double faults. He saved an impressive 88% break points, but had no break point opportunities. He would go on to win 42% of total points. 

Upcoming opponent

John Isner will face sixth ranked Japanese Kei Nishikori. Nishikori needed two tiebreak sets to beat Steve Johnson. They have played each other twice having one win each. The last time the pair met was in the Washington Open final in 2015, with the Japanese coming out on top 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The other time they met was at the Miami Masters in April of last year at the quarterfinal stage with John Isner comfortably defeating Nishikori 6-4, 6-3. 

VAVEL Logo
About the author