Cincinnati Masters: Isner shocks Djokovic; Del Potro reaches semis

John Isner celebrates his victory over Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic will have to wait at least another year to become the first man to win each of the nine ATP World Tour Masters Series events. John Isner dealt a stunning blow to the withering confidence of the Serbian with a hard fought two and a half hour victory to advance to the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Isner attacked the Djokovic second serve to good effect to pile pressure on the world No.1 before pulling off a thrilling 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 victory. The American will face Juan Martin Del Potro in the last four – the Argentine overcame a spirited challenge from the resurgent qualifier Dmitry Tursunov to deny the Russian 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and reach the semis for the second year running.

In a tightly contested first set, the only break points came from the Djokovic serve. The Serbian though saved both opportunities in the second game of the match. Both men held serve throughout the set to roll over into a tie-breaker. An untimely double fault from Djokovic opened the window for Isner, who leapt into the room with eagerness. Isner held his serve through the rest of the breaker to retain the edge and take the first set.

In the second set, Djokovic survived four break points in an eighteen-point first game to avoid falling into a deeper quagmire. The Serbian’s resilience paid off when Isner surrendered his serve in the next game and Djokovic consolidated to take a 3-0 lead. The world No. 1 kept it civil from there to ensure he worked his way back into the contest by taking the second set.

With the intensity rising, the third set was an edgy affair. There would be breakpoints – one wasted by Isner in the second game and a futile point for Djokovic in the seventh game. Serving to stay in the match, Djokovic saved a match point with an ace, but threw in a double fault on the second deuce point in the game. Isner made sure he capitalised at the second time of asking to earn his second career victory over Djokovic.

In an earlier match, Del Potro was stretched to three sets by Tursunov, who won the second set of an interesting encounter. The 44th ranked Russian was trying to become the first qualifier since David Wheaton in 1994 to reach the last four at Cincinnati, but found the Argentine too tall a hurdle to overcome. The world No. 7 handed the second set on a platter to Tursunov, when he followed a double fault with an embarrassing dump into the net, failing to handle an easy overhead smash.

But upping the ante, Del Potro broke twice in six games to take a commanding 5-1 lead. The tower of Tandil served out the match without any further drama by holding to love. Del Potro finished the match with a thundering ace to march confidently into the last four. The Argentine hasn’t lost to Isner in four career meetings against the American.