No. 9 John Isner, +8
The American has returned to a career-high No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, almost six years since he first attained the position (16 April 2012). The 32-year-old captured the biggest title of his career at the Miami Open presented by Itau by beating then No. 5-ranked Alexander Zverev 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in the final for his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown (now 13-12 in finals). Isner also knocked out No. 3 Marin Cilic in the third round and No. 6-ranked Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals. Read & Watch Final Highlights

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No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta, +7
The Spaniard jumped seven places to No. 12, two spots off his career-high (11 September 2017), following a run to the Miami semi-finals. Carreno Busta saved one match point against No. 8-ranked Kevin Anderson 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6) in the quarter-finals, before falling to Zverev 7-6(4), 6-2 in the semi-finals – his second Masters 1000 semi-final (also 2017 Indian Wells). He is the second-highest ranked Spaniard in the Top 100, after Rafael Nadal who today returns to No. 1 for his 168th week.

No. 19 (Career High) Hyeon Chung, +4
The 21-year-old South Korean continues his rise up the ATP Rankings, breaking into the Top 20 for the first time (at No. 19) with a run to his second straight Masters 1000 quarter-final (also Indian Wells). The 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion has risen 43 positions from No. No. 62 on 8 January 2018.

No. 28 (Career High) Borna Coric, +8
The 21-year-old Croatian rises eight spots to a career-high No. 28 after completing a productive March (8-2 match record) that included a semi-final run at the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Federer) and a Miami quarter-final exit (l. Zverev). He was No. 50 in the ATP Rankings on 26 February.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 58 (Career High) Frances Tiafoe, +5
No. 70 Joao Sousa, +10
No. 80 Jeremy Chardy, +10
No. 84 Ricardas Berankis, +18
No. 90 Dusan Lajovic, +18
No. 95 Mirza Basic, +20

Rafael Nadal has today returned to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, beginning his fifth stint at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis, nine-and-a-half years after he first attained the top spot on 18 August 2008. The icon of the game, who begins his 168th week at No. 1, replaces Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who had held the top ranking since 19 February to extend his record to 309 weeks overall.

The 31-year-old Nadal, who has been omnipresent in the Top 10 since 25 April 2005, is now two weeks shy of sixth-placed John McEnroe’s mark in top spot (170).

Nadal first ascended to the top spot at the age of 22 and has spent four previous stints at No. 1 — 46 weeks between 18 August 2008 and 5 July 2009, 56 weeks from 7 June 2010 to 3 July 2011, 39 weeks between 7 October 2013 and 6 July 2014 and 26 weeks from 21 August 2017 to 18 February 2018. Only Federer (309), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270), Jimmy Connors (268), Novak Djokovic (223) and McEnroe (170) have spent more weeks at No. 1 since August 1973.

In each of the seasons he started his stints at No. 1, Nadal has finished atop the year-end ATP Rankings (2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017).

THE NUMBER ONES
A list in chronological order of the 26 players who have ranked No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973):

NADAL AT NO. 1
A look at the Spanish superstar’s match, Top 10 wins and finals record in his four previous stints at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

Our understanding of forehands and backhands has just added another layer – ironically from one of the greatest servers our sport has ever seen. 

John Isner defeated Alexander Zverev 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 to win the Miami Open presented by Itau on Sunday, with an analysis of his forehands and backhands shedding new light on what other factors heavily contribute to their overall performance.

The following five areas break down Isner’s forehand and backhand proficiency with a new lens. The analysis does not include returns, volleys or overheads, but does include baseline groundstrokes and approaching the net. 

1. The Serve Protects The Backhand
On the surface, there is nothing special about uncovering that Isner hit 24 backhands in the opening set. What will stop you in your tracks is that 20 of them occurred when he was receiving serve, and only four occurred when serving.

Quite simply, Isner can hide his backhand behind his potent serve. When returning, the server can find it at will. In the second set, Isner hit 18 backhands, which were evenly split at nine apiece when serving and returning. 

In the deciding third set, Isner hit another 18 backhands, with an overwhelming 16 of them hit when he was returning. Overall, Isner hit 60 backhands, with 75 per cent (45 in total) of them being struck after a return of serve. 

It certainly begs the conversation that simply recording forehand metrics such as winners, errors and totals in isolation does not even begin to tell the story.

2. Run Around Forehands = No. 1
You can divide Isner’s baseline and approach performance into three distinct categories.

1. Normal Forehands (struck from the deuce-court)
2. Run-Around Forehands (struck from the ad-court)
3. Backhands

The number one thing that Isner did in this match was hit run-around forehands – standing in the ad-court. Zverev directed 123 shots to the ad-court, but Isner upgraded 63 (51 per cent) of them to forehands.

The following breakdown shows how the American short-circuited Zverev’s baseline tactics.

Isner – Shots Hit / Location
• 28 per cent – Normal forehands (Isner standing in the Deuce court)
• 37 per cent – Run-around forehands (Isner standing in the Ad court)
• 35 per cent – Backhands

Is the backhand considered a weakness if you don’t actually have to hit it?

3. Forehands Struck Around 2 to 1.
Zverev constantly tried to attack Isner’s backhand, but he had a great deal of trouble finding it. Overall, Isner hit 65 per cent total forehands for the match. 

• 112 forehands (11 winners / 24 errors)  
• 60 backhands (4 winners / 9 errors)

The role of the forehand is to attack, so it will typically have more winners and errors, just like this match. Isner averaged committing a forehand error one out of every 4.7 forehands, which was worse than the 6.7 error average hitting backhands. 

The role of the forehand is to make the opponent miss. The role of the backhand is not to miss. Mission accomplished for the American.

4. Set Three: Run-Around Forehands Skyrocketed When Returning
It’s always tougher to hit the preferred run-around forehand when returning, but Isner did a solid job in the opening two sets, hitting 19 run-around forehands when serving, and 21 when returning. In the deciding third set, he was impressively able to hit 18 when returning, which was almost as much as the 21 from the first two sets combined.

In Set 3, he hit an amazing 75 per cent (18/24) of his run-around forehands when returning, while hitting 6 behind his serve. This created a tremendous amount of pressure in Zverev’s service games, with Isner finally breaking him at 4-all.

5. Set Three: Backhand Solid As A Rock
Isner committed eight backhand errors through the first two sets, but only made one in the third set, starving Zverev of a location on the court to attack. Importantly, of the 16 backhands Isner hit when returning serve in the third set, he didn’t miss a single one. 

Thanks to a server, forehand and backhand analysis just took a step forward. 

John Isner has had an adventurous couple of weeks to say the least.

Arriving at Crandon Park, the 32-year-old American had won two tour-level matches all year (2-6). And in his opener at the Miami Open presented by Itau against Jiri Vesely, he lost the second set and appeared he could possibly suffer another early exit.

Yet, after his second win against a Top 5 opponent in this tournament alone (now 10 in his career) on Sunday, Isner leaves Key Biscayne as the oldest first-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion in history.

“I never thought I would be in this moment considering how I was playing coming into this event,” Isner said.

In fact, at two of his previous three events, Isner failed to convert on match point(s) before suffering early exits. He lost in his opener at the BNP Paribas Open against Gael Monfils after holding one match point and he was bounced earlier in the year in the second round of the Delray Beach Open after failing to convert on three match points against Peter Gojowczyk.

How was he able to get over all that disappointment and turn it around to win the biggest title of his career, when his first 12 triumphs all came at the ATP World Tour 250-level? According to the American, his early-season struggles had nothing to do with how he was feeling physically on the court. “It was more mental,” he admitted.

Believe it or not, the shift in his season all began with a dinner. When Isner arrived in Miami, he had dinner with his coach, David Macpherson, on a Wednesday night. They didn’t have much to discuss technique-wise.

“I especially hashed out what’s been holding me back, and it’s not more reps on the court. I mean, I’m doing that. It’s not more time in the gym. I have been doing that. It was just mental things and myself being tight and tentative on the court holding me back. That’s the reason why I was losing close matches,” Isner said. “We cleared that hurdle this week. So I went into every match super-fresh mentally and loose. After each match I won, we would have another dinner, have another dinner, have another dinner, and we kept hammering that point: just be loose, and I will be a force if I can play freely.”

Isner was certainly able to do that. The right-hander, who will equal his career-best ATP Ranking of No. 9 on Monday, faced just a single break point against World No. 3 Marin Cilic, reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung and arguably the hottest player on Tour, Indian Wells champion Juan Martin del Potro.

So this is what @rogerfederer feels like every other week. @miamiopen . Happy Easter!!! ? pic.twitter.com/4KsHiEeRMX

— John Isner (@JohnIsner) April 1, 2018

And then in the final, despite losing a heartbreaking first set in which he failed to convert on five break points against fifth seed Alexander Zverev — who he has practised with since the German was a young teenager — he was still able to find a way to win, which he hadn’t done all year.

“Somewhere along in the second set I found a second wind,” said Isner, who was not broken in his final 53 service games of the tournament. “To win like that in front of a crowd like that, with that atmosphere, you can’t replicate moments like that. It was absolutely amazing.”

It certainly was a special way to bring the 32-year Crandon Park-era of the Miami Open presented by Itau to a close.

“For me to come out the winner in the last men’s singles match ever here is pretty unique,” Isner said. “This is crazy.”

Rarely does the 6’6” Alexander Zverev find himself overmatched in height, but that’s exactly what John Isner did in the final of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

At a whopping 6’10”, the American struck 18 aces and was unbroken throughout the match, finally earning victory in a tightly contested 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 decision over Zverev. The win was his first over the German in four tries – although the two go back even farther than their ATP World Tour meetings. The two have been frequent practice partners at Saddlebrook Resort for years and have shared a friendship for years.

“The first practice that we ever played I think I was 15, and it was the last day of the offseason and he went to Australia, and he lost to me,” said the 20-year-old, who is 12 years younger than Isner, himself now the oldest first-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titlist.

“He was quite disappointed, I remember. But he’s a great guy,” added Zverev. “He was always kind of pushing the younger guys. I’m happy that, you know — I’m never happy to lose, but if I lose, I’m happy that he won [his] first Masters.”

Ultimately, it wasn’t to be for Zverev this year at the Miami Open. And, at Crandon Park, it will never be.

Contesting the last final to be held at the historic Crandon Park before the tournament moves inland to Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium, Zverev fell just short of his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

“I’ll never win here,” said Zverev after the match, with a smile. Although the move to a new venue will be a big change for players, who have played at Crandon Park for their entire careers, the German welcomes the change and the excitement that will come with it. 

“[Crandon Park] is a great site; it’s a historic site. It’s one of the oldest ones that we still have. But I think changing next year to the new one is going to be amazing,” he said. “I think the stadium will be amazing. For the crowd it’s going to be amazing. For us players it’s going to be much, much better. It’s a good move, but still we’ll miss this site.”

‘Amazing’ was Zverev’s word of choice, which was completely fitting considering the amazing twists and turns of the final he just contested, saving 10 of 12 break points faced and battling it out against one of the ATP World Tour’s biggest servers.

“I played bad from the baseline,” said Zverev in a critical assessment of his own performance. “But, you know, it’s not easy against John, because you always feel the pressure that if you get broken you’re not going to win the set. 

“He played great. He played very well from the baseline and he returned very well. Obviously his serve, but we don’t need to talk about the serve.”

Zverev, who turns 21 on April 20, was bidding to become the youngest player to win three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles since Novak Djokovic in 2008. Now, just 60 points behind Marin Cilic for third in the ATP Rankings, he is in strong position to surpass his career-high of No. 3 as the year continues.

(1) Confidence is key (especially for Isner)
It’s safe to say that John Isner was not a favourite to win the Miami Open presented by Itau. The American arrived at Crandon Park having won two tour-level matches all season (2-6) with neither of those victories coming against opponents inside the Top 80 of the ATP Rankings. 

But after losing the second set in his opening-round match against Jiri Vesely 1-6, the American won 11 consecutive sets to capture the biggest title of his career. Isner had won 12 previous tour-level trophies, but none of them came outside of the ATP World Tour 250-level. 

“I knew the only way I was going to be able to win this [Vesely] match is if I free up and just loosen up and just hit the ball,” Isner said after stunning Indian Wells champion Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals. “I was playing loose and playing free. And then from there I have been on the right path.”

That path led Isner to 53 straight service holds to conclude the tournament, helping him beat three Top 6 opponents: No. 3 Marin Cilic (Round of 16), No. 6 Del Potro (SF) and No. 5 Alexander Zverev (Final). It is the first time he has beaten two players in the Top 5 at the same tournament. And to think, he had only won two matches all year.

(2) Zverev is poised for another big year
It was not the best start to 2018 for Alexander Zverev, as the German suffered three of his first four defeats this season against players outside the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings. But the 20-year-old phenom showed in Miami that he is plenty capable of raising his level to contend for more titles after triumphing five times a year ago. 

After battling through a third-set tie-break in his second-round match against Sydney champion Daniil Medvedev, the German found his stride. Zverev played excellent tennis to oust David Ferrer, who played at a level reminiscent of his time in the Top 5 in the opening set of that encounter, and then went on to oust No. 17 seed Nick Kyrgios, BNP Paribas Open semi-finalist Borna Coric and No. 16 seed Pablo Carreno Busta without dropping a set. 

As Zverev told reporters, “I just missed too many balls. That’s it.” If the German’s backhand passing shot at 30/30 on Isner’s serve while leading 3-2 in the deciding set dropped just a fraction of a second sooner to earn break point, the match could have possibly ended differently. Zverev could have lifted the trophy to become the youngest since Novak Djokovic in 2008 to own three Masters 1000 titles.

And while he doesn’t have the glory, Zverev will have confidence to build upon as the ATP World Tour shifts to the European red clay.

(3) Juan Martin del Potro is going in one direction — up
Yes, the Argentine was unable to become the first player to win back-to-back-to-back titles at Acapulco and the ‘Sunshine Double’ in Indian Wells and Miami. But it is important to remember something — Del Potro is once again one of the most feared players on the ATP World Tour.

The World No. 6 got off to a career-best 21-3 start to the season, with his 21 wins leading the Tour. And not just that, but Del Potro’s 15-match winning streak before falling against John Isner in the semi-finals was the second longest of his career. During that streak, Del Potro beat four Top 10 players in the ATP Rankings — three of the victories coming in straight sets — including a triumph against Roger Federer, who had been undefeated in 2018 until losing to the ‘Tower of Tandil’ in the BNP Paribas Open final.

And the scary part is that Del Potro has just 355 ATP Rankings points to defend through Wimbledon. To put that in perspective, he earned 360 points for making the semi-finals in Miami. So if he can maintain his excellent form — and there is no reason at the moment to doubt that he could — Del Potro has a fantastic opportunity to climb back into the Top 5 for the first time since February 2014.

“I played well. I did a good tournament,” Del Potro said after losing to Isner. “I go home with many things to celebrate.”

Del Potro is clearly back, and perhaps better than ever. Not bad for a guy who was World No. 338 after Miami just two years ago.

(4) Thrilling End To Crandon Park era sets stage for a grand new beginning
When founder Butch Buchholz moved his tournament to Key Biscayne in 1987, he may not have known just how special of an event it would become.

Eleven World No. 1’s raised the trophy during the tournament’s stay on the island, and every winner in 32 years at the location climbed inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings at some point during their career. Only the best in the sport managed to succeed at Crandon Park.

But after 32 years of memorable tennis, Isner’s victory at the Miami Open presented by Itau ended the tournament’s stay at this location. Next year, the event is moving to Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

“Never, ever could have imagined myself playing the last singles match at this historic site and being the winner, being the last winner here at Crandon Park,” Isner said. “It’s amazing. This is the best moment of my career.”

And it was fitting that an amazing era came to a tremendous close with dramatic singles and doubles finals. John Isner and Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan came from a set down to win thrillers in their respective Key Biscayne finals.

(5) The Bryan Brothers Lined Up For Another Shot At No. 1
Last year was the first time since 2009 — when Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won seven titles including the Nitto ATP Finals — that the brothers did not win at least one ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in a season. But the 39-year-olds, who turn 40 in April, added Masters 1000 trophy No. 37 to their collection on Saturday with an impressive come-from-behind win against 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifiers Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov.

And based on their early form in 2018, the Bryan brothers are once again a threat to climb back toward the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings. The Americans have won 12 of their past 14 matches, including a runner-up finish at the BNP Paribas Open. They also began their campaign by advancing to the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Only one team has earned more ATP Doubles Rankings points than the Americans (2,665) this season — Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic (3,430). And after winning their first title of the season — earning a trophy for the 18th consecutive year — who is to say the most successful tandem in history doesn’t have another run in them?

“I’m really proud of the way we’re playing, how we’ve turned it around from a fairly rough last year,” Bob Bryan said. “We’re building every week. I feel like we’re gaining momentum and I’m very optimistic heading into the clay-court season.”