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Murray topples Isner to win first Paris Masters title

Jake Davies
Tennis

 

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By Jake Davies

  • Andy Murray [2] defeats John Isner 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-4
  • Murray wins his fourth title in succession by winning Paris title
  • The World No.1 is now on a 19 match unbeaten run
  • Match Stats via TennisAbstract
PARIS, FRANCE – It has been quite the weekend for Andy Murray who rose to the World No. 1 spot, and won the Paris Masters for the first time, beating John Isner in the final.

 

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Andy Murray [2] defeats John Isner 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-4

Murray was made to work for his seventh title and third Masters 1000 title of 2016 but came out on top against  Isner in a close three-set match. The newly-crowned World No.1 started the match with a double fault but started to find the tennis that has taken him to the top of the ATP Rankings.

Some great shotmaking from the Briton helped him get the break for *4-2. Isner responded by earning two break point chances in the following game but he could not get over the line and Murray took the first set 6-3.

The biggest problem Isner has faced when coming up against Murray is his ability to convert the big break points. Coming into this match, Isner had taken just one break point in seven career meetings, which emphasises why he has struggled in the past. That number continued to grow in today’s encounter although Isner did put up a great fight as the considerable underdog.

Isner poses a gigantic figure at the net, standing at 6ft 10 inches and he made full use of that in the second set with Murray struggling to get the ball past him with regularity. The American won the second set tiebreak and took his first set in seven against Murray.

The Briton was getting increasingly frustrated and agitated at the task at hand. The hardest part about playing Isner is that sometimes the opponent can go two or three service games without even getting a racquet onto the ball. That is because of the sheer pace and precision of the Isner serve – his strongest asset by far.

Just like all the top players do, Murray waited for his opportunity to pounce on one of Isner’s service games and struck gold at 5-4* in the deciding set. He struck a fierce backhand into the feet of Isner which drew the error and handed the match to Murray.

Murray will be the first British singles number one since the computerised rankings began in 1973 and now travels to London with the greatest of confidence and momentum against the best players in the world. The Brit has played a lot of tennis and won a lot of matches in the last five weeks but will feel the benefit of having a week off before he sets his sights on winning the World Tour Finals for the first time.

Another important talking point is whether Murray can leave his mark on the World Tour Finals event, which is a tournament that has eluded him. The Brit has won some big matches in an indoor setting both in Vienna and now in Paris and is one of a few players that is playing with a great amount of confidence going into that event.

The next step for Murray will be whether he can maintain the Year End World No.1 ranking as Novak Djokovic attempts to regain the spot that he held for 122 weeks in a row.

 

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