Hi guys.
In my opinion, what is separating Isner from most of the field (and keeping his matches close against Ferrer, Haas, even Monfils) is his serve. Take the serve out of the equation, and John is just flat out making more unforced errors than his opponents--mostly on simple rally balls.
I rewatched a few TIVO´d matches from Washington 2007 and Isner just looks slower and more unsure of his shots, but his first serve is better. Now, he hesitates to really rip shorter balls and when he does, he often misses them. He used to be able to just crush Roddick off the ground with his firepower, but he had nothing on him last week. Worse, he´s making a ton of truly unforced errors.
Is he slightly out of shape? I wonder what the deal is? When he is "on" there´s nothing more beautiful to watch, but last week, it was more a Sampras-like display of great serving carrying the day. He was "on" in Washington against Haas, so he´s still got it in there somewhere, but I´m a little jittery on his prospects at the open if he has to depend on a huge serving day to beat the top guys.
Thoughts?