Nadal Defeats Isner to Capture Western & Southern Open Crown
Rafael Nadal is having a great U.S. Open Series with two tournament wins. Nadal beat John Isner in the Western & Southern Open final 7-6(8), 7-6(3) to earn his first title in Cincinnati. Nadal also won the tournament last week in Montreal, and this is the first time in his career to have back to back hard court wins.
"It means a lot, being able to win two straight titles, two Masters 1000 on hard back-to-back is just amazing for me," Nadal said. "I never did something like this in all my career, so it was an emotional moment for so many different reasons. It is a nice feeling to arrive to the U.S. Open with two victories in two very difficult tournaments."
Isner’s road to the W&S Open final included beating 3 top ten players, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro and Richard Gasquet. He put up an impressive fight against Nadal, whose win here is the 59th title win of his career.
Isner plays his best American soil, with 14 of his 16 final appearances coming in the U.S. He served up 11 aces, but couldn’t convert on any of his break chances. Nadal didn’t have a chance to break Isner during the match, except in both tiebreaks. Nadal upped his game in the second set tiebreak and fell to his back when Isner hit his return into the net to give Nadal the match.
"He kept on coming up with the goods," said Isner. "I thought he played a very smart match, and I knew he would. That’s what he does. That’s why he’s so good. He’s constantly adjusting to every circumstance, and he did today with me."
Being a finalist in the W&S Open will bring Isner back into the top 20, earning him a spot as14th in the world. Since his early exit at Wimbledon, Isner has had a great summer, with a 16-4 match record and a title win in Atlanta and reaching the finals in Washington and Cincinnati.
