Andy Murray booked his spot in the Roland Garros quarter-finals for a third consecutive year, downing John Isner 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.
Second seed Murray, who now owns a 6-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head edge over his American opponent, advanced to the last eight at the clay-court Grand Slam for the sixth time. It is the most quarters reached by a British man in Roland Garros history.
“I’m pumped to be in the quarters of a slam,” said Murray, who will face home hope Richard Gasquet next. “Obviously the atmosphere will be tough, but I don’t mind that. I played a number of times against French players here in difficult atmospheres and I managed okay.”
Four of the previous six encounters between Murray and Isner had opened with a first-set tie-break, and the script would hold true to form on Sunday. Isner, who failed to convert on two break chances earlier in the set, battled back after conceding an immediate mini-break. He had a set point on his racquet at 6/5 after inducing an error off a Murray second serve, but the American left his approach shot short as he darted to the net to close out the opener. Murray slipped a backhand down the line for a sublime winner and the momentum shifted. Two more set points were saved by the Scot, who eventually converted the second of his own, pulling Isner out wide to the ad court and drawing an error to clinch the tie-break 11-9.
“I think it could have been a little bit different if I won that set,” said Isner. “I had it on my racquet serving at 6/5. I had a short forehand, too, and didn’t do anything with it. I hit it right back to him and he passed me up the line, because he’s No. 2 in the world, and that’s what he does. I didn’t take advantage of that opportunity right there… I think I went with option D there. A, B, and C would have been better.”
“The first set was key,” said Murray. “I didn’t have any chances until the tiebreak. I was a bit lucky on the 6/5 point. He had a great serve and I guessed the right way on his approach shot. That point was very important, for sure. And then after that I was starting to create a lot more chances on the return games. Most games I felt like I was having opportunities and wasn’t giving him any chances on my serve.”
The skies opened at 1-1 in the second set and a 50-minute rain delay would ensue. But Murray would not be rattled, eventually taking a two-set lead with a late break in the 10th game. In favourable heavy conditions, the World No. 2 took his first set point, chasing down an Isner drop shot and firing a volley into the open court. He continued to apply pressure on the 6’10” right-hander in the third set, breaking for 3-1 when an Isner drop shot found the net. Murray turned aside a break chance when serving for the match in the ninth game, emerging victorious after just under three hours. He withstood 18 aces from the big-serving American and saved all five break points faced. Murray has denied a combined 31 of 32 break chances in six encounters against Isner.
“The conditions were certainly slower and that would benefit me against someone that serves as well as John,” added Murray. “I think when we came back out after the rain delay, the balls were getting heavy very quick. The beginning of the match it was fairly slow because there hadn’t been any rain during the day. The balls weren’t getting that heavy when we were going to the back of the courts and the covers. When we came back out the balls were extremely slow, so I was able to return a lot more serves, get a lot more in the service games, extend the rallies, and that’s where I was able to dictate most of the points.”
Murray extended his winning streak to nine matches after lifting the trophy at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome two weeks ago (d. Djokovic). He completed a pair of five-set wins to open the fortnight, including his ninth career 0-2 comeback over Radek Stepanek in the first round.
Isner, meanwhile, was seeking to become the first American to reach the quarter-finals on the terre battue since Andre Agassi in 2003. American men are now 0-7 in the fourth round in the past 13 years.
“I do think I did turn a corner on my season this week, considering how I was down and out in my first-round match,” Isner added. “So I’m leaving this tournament with positive feelings going forward in my year here in 2016.
“It’s not going to be a somber ride back to the States for me, whereas a lot of times this year I have left the tournament with a very bad taste in my mouth. It’s not so much that this week.”
