Roger Federer vs John Isner (6-1, 6-4)
Even at 37 years of age, the Federer Express just continues to chug along and rack up titles. Federer was recently denied by Dominic Thiem in the final of the Indian Wells Masters. But he made sure he didn’t lose a second final in a row as he dispatched defending champion John Isner in straight sets to claim the Miami Open.
With his victory in Miami, Federer became the first player — man or woman — to win multiple titles this season. And more notably, he’s now added his 101st career singles title to his remarkable resume after reaching the century mark in Dubai.
Federer’s Miami Open 2019 betting odds dropped even lower after the tournament’s other top-five seeds — Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, and Kei Nishikori — crashed out in the first few rounds and reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic went out in the round of 16.
But unlike those other top stars, Federer took care of business like he has 100 other times in his illustrious career. And chances are he will grab a few more titles before he finally calls it quits.
Highlights of the game
There weren’t too many highlights in this match as far as Isner was concerned. The towering American’s trademark serve was immediately broken in the very first game, and it was all downhill from there. Isner didn’t help himself by committing some unforced errors — as if Federer needed any more help.
Federer went on to break Isner’s serve three more times as he strolled to a 6-1 first-set win in just 25 minutes.
Isner put up a bit more resistance in the second set, but it clearly wasn’t enough. Later in the set, Isner had his foot looked at by his trainer as he limped through the final few games.
But even if he were at full strength, Isner most likely wasn’t going to launch an epic comeback against Federer. R-Fed eventually went on to close out the match, 6-1, 6-4.
One could argue that the post-match events were more noteworthy than the actual tennis match itself. Tournament director and former top-five player James Blake was full of praise for Federer during the trophy presentation.
“Unbelievable for you to keep winning and playing this level of tennis,” Blake said. “It makes me feel like such an underachiever. We’re all just in awe.”
Isner also paid tribute to the Swiss legend for what he has continued to accomplish this late into his career.
With the way he’s going this year, Federer is clearly not going to be stuck at 101 titles for too long. It’s just a matter of when he’ll be back to celebrate yet another tournament victory.
Key statistics
With his Miami Open 2019 results, Federer improves his record on tour this year to an impressive 18-2, which is the best in the ATP.
He shockingly crashed out of the Australian Open in the round of 16. But he has since bounced back by winning his first title of the season in Dubai and was a losing finalist in Indian Wells.
Federer is also now 6-2 in eight all-time head-to-head meetings against Isner, including 5-1 on hard court.
Federer’s service game was completely locked in all match long against Isner. He didn’t get his first serve in play as frequently as he would’ve liked as he went just 20 of 35 on his first serves. But it hardly mattered as he still won an impressive 32 of 35 points on his own serve.
Four of Federer’s 101 career titles have been at the Miami Open. He is now just nine wins away from topping Jimmy Connor’s all-time record of 109 titles in the Open era.
What’s next?
This might be the last time Isner will be in action for the foreseeable future as he could need a bit of time off to allow his foot to heal up.
As for Federer, he’ll likely take some time off in order to begin preparations for the clay-court season. Federer skipped those preparations last year, but he plans to play in Madrid in May to tune up for the French Open.
Federer said post-match that he’s not very confident heading into this year’s clay-court season. But with two titles already under his belt, it would be a surprise if the SBOBET odds don’t have him as one of the favourites for the second Grand Slam of the season.
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