ATP Houston: John Isner makes "All Bot Final" clear
John Isner (ATP No. 27) has reached the final at the ATP tournament in Houston.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Apr 10, 2022, 12:11 am

In the second semi-final of the day, Isner beat Cristian Garin 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 and thus made it clear that it was a purely American final: Reilly Opelka had already secured entry into the final after a 6: 3, 7 :5 against Nick Kyrgios .
Isner had to give up the first set, but then only allowed a little: In the second set he managed the early break to make it 2-0, only at the end of the set did he have to fend off a break chance. In the third round he made the decisive break to make it 3:2, after which Garin didn't get a chance.
Isner and Opelka - last 12 tiebreaks in a row
For Isner, reaching the final in Houston is the first this year in singles, only in Dallas did he make it into the semi-finals, where he lost to his current opponent Opelka in two tie-break sets. The second tie-break was worth remembering: Opelka won it with 24:22 - it was the longest tie-break in ATP history .
Are the two in Houston aiming for something similar? Quite possible. In their five matches so far there have been a total of 13 tiebreaks - and most recently 12 in a row.
Isner and Opelka with a serve party in the final?
As Isner captured on camera after his victory, there is now an "All Bot Final" between him and Opelka.
Background to the signature: In 2021, Opelka declared that he had philosophized with Isner about "Servebots", i.e. players who are extremely dependent on their serves (and return very weakly). "As of now, Isner is in the first category. Me too. Karlovic too. Raonic, and I think Kevin Anderson too," Opelka explained at the time.
Nick Kyrgios took Opelka and Isner out of the "Servebot" category. "While there's a lot to be said for Kyrgios, we concluded today that Servebots must be a bit annoying to watch. And he's too exciting, too fun to watch, so he doesn't fall under that, under the first Servebot category ", says Opelka.
In a direct comparison of the two "Servebots", Opelka leads 4:1.
The final is scheduled for 9 p.m. CEST.