Published>Sat, Sep 04 10 05:57 AM
An innocuous twist of the ankle could yet derail American John Isner's U.S. Open dreams.
The big-hitting American fired down 24 aces on his way to a 6-3 3-6 7-6 6-4 victory over Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland on Friday to reach the third round of the tournament.
But there were times during the match when Isner grimaced, still feeling the effects of turning his ankle trying to hit a jumping return off a serve into his body from David Nalbandian in Cincinnati.
The number 18 seed said the injury itself is not an issue but that missing 10 days of training because of it has derailed his ambitions at Flushing Meadows.
"Yeah, it's definitely been tough - I started feeling it in the third set of my first match," said Isner. "Throughout the whole match today I was feeling it. I don't feel like I had the pop on my shots that I normally do. So, yeah, I'm struggling a bit physically but I feel like I'm getting stronger."
Isner cut a concerned figure when he dropped the second set but recovered from that momentary lapse to see off the world number 63 in a little under three hours.
The 25-year-old now faces Mikhail Youzhny in the third round with expectations high from the home crowd as one of just four Americans left in the men's draw, not that Isner is feeling the pressure.
"I don't feel the weight of it at all," said Isner. "My second year on tour, I kind of felt that pressure. A lot of great things were expected of me, and I regressed in 2008.
"But now I'm more mature, and I've obviously played a lot of matches. I don't feel any added pressure to do well because I'm American. I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself."
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