Federer and Isner closed out the opening week of Wimbledon in style

LONDON—Friday evening is often a good time to take stock of one’s work situation. Was it a good week? What will the next one hold? And in the big picture, what lies ahead? Or, a moment of dread: Might it all come to an end?

These questions are raised by tennis players, too. Consider what was on the table past 5:00 p.m. at Wimbledon this Friday, when two seeded men, Roger Federer and John Isner, sought to turn the corner and reach the fortnight’s second week. But while for Federer, competing at this stage was as routine as punching a time clock, for Isner it was akin to that big promotion he’d long hoped to earn.

The words “routine brilliance” reveal just how spoiled we have become by Federer. His opponent today was 64th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff, a 28-year-old German who’d lost both of their previous two matches. Struff is a prototypical contemporary ATP World Tour player: 6’5” and at times quite forceful with his serve, groundstrokes and intermittent use of the volley—in certain ways, a drastically less polished version of Tomas Berdych.

Of all Federer’s skills, one of the most remarkable is his ability to take the measure of his opponents’ strengths and, at seemingly just the right time, snap that man in half. In the first set, Struff served at 2-3, 30-30. There followed a compelling 16-ball rally, Struff attaining considerable length, Federer deploying both his slice and topspin backhand before closing out the point with a down-the-line forehand into the deuce court pocket—both lines touched. On the next point, Struff approached and Federer rolled a superb backhand crosscourt pass. Soon enough, Federer had won the 24-minute first set, 6-3.

WATCH—Match point from Federer's win over Struff at Wimbledon:

The second set was nearly twice as long. But again, as always, Federer’s timing was impeccable. With Struff serving at 5-all, 40-30, Federer closed out an 18-ball rally at the net, fielding a powerful Struff pass to nail an untouchable backhand volley down-the-line. Federer then took the next four points to close out the set, 7-5. Though Struff had rallied from down two sets to love three times to win in his career, this wasn’t going to be the place for number four. The third set was a formality, Federer taking it, 6-2, to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the 16th time. Have a nice weekend, see you all on Monday.

Contrast that with Isner. Nine previous times he’d played Wimbledon. Considering the heft of his serve, it was surprising that Isner had never gone past the third round here. Three times he’d exited early in epic five-setters—7-5 in ’12 versus Alejandro Falla, 12-10 against Marin Cilic in ’15 and 19-17 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in ’16. Last year had gone even worse, Isner losing 6-3 in the fifth to No. 90 Dudi Sela.

Said Isner following that defeat, “It's all between the ears, I think. I had opportunities, of course. When I don't go for it, bad things happen. That was the case throughout the whole match, me not going for it. That's why I lost.”  Shortly after that, Isner fell out of the Top 20.

But there has been much resurgence for Isner in 2018. His most notable effort had come at the Miami Open, where he’d stormed to the title, a run that included wins over a trio of top tenners in Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro and, in the finals, Alexander Zverev.

That Miami effort had seen Isner play a smart brand of aggressive, opportunistic tennis. When you hold serve with the frequency of Isner, it makes sense to apply pressure with dynamic returning and frequent forays forward. But this hadn’t always been the case, Isner instead often playing passively and letting himself get ensnared in draining rallies and long matches, the majority of which he’d lost (Isner is 9-17 in five-setters).

WATCH—Isner's interview at the desk after third-round victory:

One such trauma almost occurred in Isner’s second-round match versus Ruben Bemelmans. Having won the first two sets and led 4-0 in the third set tiebreaker, Isner dropped the next two sets and faced two match points at 4-5, 15-40 in the fifth. Scraping through—7-5 in the fifth—Isner was asked how true the notion was that a man who’s come that close to defeat is exceptionally liberated.

“No, it's not silly at all,” he said following his 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over 98th ranked Radu Albot. “You see it in—it's not just tennis. You see it in all sports...I bought it today. I knew that I was in a good spot going into this match today, and I played that way.”

Against Albot, a man who’d won their prior match earlier this year in New York, Isner was impeccable, striking 47 winners to just 24 unforced errors and cashing in all four of his break point opportunities.

If a bit of superstition about a near-fatal athletic experience aided Isner’s cause versus Albot, a more rational approach has also proven productive.  Isner this year opted not to play any pre-Wimbledon grass-court events.

Said Isner, “I think the most important thing I do is keep taking care of my body and make sure I'm physically fresh, more importantly mentally fresh.  So I came into this tournament very eager and wanting to do well and gave myself five, six days of practice on these courts to get acclimated to them and get used to the conditions. So right from the get-go on Monday I felt like I was in a pretty good spot. Although I hadn't played since the French Open, I was pretty confident coming into this tournament because I have been playing well since Miami. All of that combined has made me—it's made for a good start here.”

With two days off before his next match, Isner planned to rest all day Saturday and resume practice Sunday. TGIF.

Strokes of Genius is a world-class documentary capturing the historic 13-year rivalry between tennis icons Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It is timed for release as the anticipation crests with Roger as returning champion, 10 years after their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship – an epic match so close and so reflective of their competitive balance that, in the end, the true winner was the sport itself.

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