Washington (AFP)
John Isner ended two years without a title on the ATP Tour, winning Sunday in the final of his favorite tournament in Atlanta (hard), which he won for the sixth time.
The 36-year-old 2.08m giant leaned on his lethal weapon, serve (21 aces), to outplay fellow 19-year-old Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (10/8), 7 -5.
Isner moved up five places in the ATP rankings to climb to 30th in the world, thanks to his first success on the circuit since his victory in the final on Newport turf in July 2019.
This is the 16th title of his career, the 6th in Atlanta where he had already won in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Among the active players, only the untouchables Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, all three holders of 20 Grand Slam titles, have also managed to win a tournament at least six times.
"I can't believe I've won this tournament six times. We'll see if I can win it a seventh time next year," said Isner, who hadn't played a final since his success at Newport.
"It was great to be back here to play on a Sunday again (...) It will give me a lot of confidence, for sure," he added.
Nakashima was playing his second ATP Tour final, the second in two weeks, after losing to Britain's Cameron Norrie in Los Cabos, Mexico, the previous Saturday.
These two great weeks allow him to jump 26 places in the standings and enter for the first time in the top 100 in the world (89th).
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