Tennis: Isner punishes Monaco frailty

Albert Montanes eased past New Zealander Rubin Statham yesterday. Photo / Steven McNicholl

While top seed Tommy Robredo was larking about on centre court in a post-match target shoot with a fan yesterday, John Isner was out on court six lining up Juan Monaco's disintegrating serve.

Today, in the pick of the quarter-finals at the Heineken Open - which will be without second seed David Ferrer of Spain following his 7-5, 6-4 loss to Arnaud Clement of France late last night - the pair will meet on equal ground.

That wasn't the case yesterday, when Robredo played an unknowing hand in the determination of his quarter-final foe.

Projected on the stadium's public address system, the noise from Robredo's antics swept over the outside courts at just the right time for Isner - and just the wrong time for Monaco.

With Monaco on serve at 2-2 in the third set of yet another classic Isner comeback, the Argentinian certainly didn't appreciate the distraction, dropping his bundle and then dropping his serve.

In a contest decided on the most slender of margins, it proved to be the decisive moment.

Isner held firm on serve and then broke Monaco again in the final game to take the deciding set 6-3.

The quality of the match between the giant American and the all-action seventh seed - and the limp offering by fourth seed Nicolas Almagro on centre court - made a mockery of the decision to banish the world's No 31 and 34 players to an outside court.

The curious scheduling decision certainly didn't do Isner any harm. With his background in American college tennis, he didn't mind the noise.

And with the 2.06m American's serve coming down from the clouds and kicking back into the sky, Monaco often found himself running out of room in the tight confines of court six.

In the end it was the surroundings as much as Isner's power game that got inside Monaco's head, with the Argentinian frequently reduced to muttering and gesticulating at the fences. The writing was on the wall as early as the second set, when Monaco stood for ages with his head resting against it, pondering his lot.

Monaco wasn't alone in losing the plot in the tense affair, with Isner using some strong words of self-admonition to kickstart his second revival. "I did get angry but I stopped it right away," Isner said.

"I went to my towel and told myself to play really aggressive on the next return game because what I was doing wasn't working. I went on to win the set and it was anybody's game in the third."

Robredo, who worked hard for a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Simon Greul in his first match, was expecting a tough match. With the top half of the draw having opened up following the injury-enforced withdrawal of third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, the victor from the Robredo-Isner clash will fancy their chances of making the final.

Standing in their way will be either eighth seed Albert Montanes or Swiss qualifier Michael Lammer, who reached his first ATP quarter-final yesterday when former world No 1 Ferrero rolled his ankle and withdrew with the score at 1-3 in the first set.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: DANA JOHANNSEN