Isner Fires 49 Aces To Lead United States To Victory

John Isner produced a fearsome serving display against Australian Bernard Tomic in Melbourne Sunday to lead the United States into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. Isner fired 49 aces in four sets to beat Tomic 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4).

The U.S. will next host either Belgium or Croatia on American soil.

Isner’s serve on Kooyong’s grass court was largely unreturnable for the last two sets, when he fired 33 aces and forced Tomic to frequently guess which side he would serve. Isner, who fired 20 aces and was not broken in his straight-sets win over Sam Groth on Day 1, gave up just one break to Tomic Sunday, dropping serve in the final game of the third set.

“I wasn’t event close on his serve in the third and fourth sets but fortunately for me I was serving pretty well myself . It was a big win for me but more importantly it was a big win for our country and our team,” Isner told Tennis Channel.

“We’ve lost in the round of 16 the last two years so it was a very tough pill for us to swallow. But we’re in the quarter-finals now and we’ll be looking forward to having a home tie coming up.”