ATLANTA — Two-time defending champion John Isner rallied to reach his 19th ATP Tour final and fifth in the Atlanta Open, beating friend Denis Kudla 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday.
The top-seeded former University of Georgia star locked in his serve against his Tampa, Florida, neighbor, shutting out his frequent practice partner by winning all 16 of his service points in the second set. Isner then took 24 points off his 30 serves in the third.
Isner played the last two sets differently than the first, when he was trying to pinpoint serves. After dropping the set, he began unleashing his greatest weapon and a handful of his serves hit 140 and 141 mph.
“I was hitting them bigger, which is a good sign,” Isner said after moving his Atlanta record to 19-3 with his 11th consecutive win at Atlantic Station. “I got stronger and stronger as that match went on. I was feeling not so great in the first set, winded.”
After winning a rock-steady first set, the 22-year-old Kudla — who warmed Isner up at Wimbledon in 2010 before Isner played the longest match in history, an 11-hour, 5-minute win over Nicolas Mahut — made all the key mistakes over the final two frames.
Plus, in his first ATP semifinal (to Isner’s 39th), Kudla suddenly didn’t recognize his friend after that first set.
“He stayed a little more disciplined than he would in some practice moments,” Kudla said. “He started flattening out his serve. In the beginning, he was trying to pick his spots and I could get a racket on it. When he gets up toward 140, that’s when it gets tough.”
Fifth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus faced seventh-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxemborg in the night semifinal.
Kudla brought a 17-2 hot streak into the match, and recently became the first American male since 2010 to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
But Isner broke serve twice in the second set, each time winning as Kudla sent easy forehands from the baseline into the net to give the 6-foot-10 Isner a lead of 3-1 and then to clinch the set.
The only service break of the final set came on another Kudla forehand mistake, when he sent one wide to end the match.
Isner moved to 19-3 in Atlanta while reaching his fifth final in six years. He will chase his 10th career title, and fifth in Atlanta.
“I guess it was seven years ago when I heard this tournament was coming here, and I thought it could be a good thing for me,” said Isner, who lost in the 2010 and ‘11 finals, fell in the ‘12 semis and won the last two finals. “But not this good.”
Top-seeded Mike and Bob Bryan won the first doubles semifinal Saturday in fashion befitting the mismatch that appeared on paper. The most successful tandem in history beat Donald Young and Christopher Eubanks 6-2, 6-4 for their record 942nd career win together.
Young and Eubanks, an Atlanta native and rising sophomore at nearby Georgia Tech playing in his first ATP main draw, scored just five points against 41 serves over two sets in their third match together.
The Bryans will try to extend their tournament titles record to 107 on Sunday.
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