American John Isner secured a return to the world’s top twenty and at the same time a berth to the final of the Cincinnati Masters 2013 after saving a match point and overcoming world number seven Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 6-7(5), 7-6(9), 6-3.
Isner will next face Rafael Nadal of Spain in the final. The Spaniard defeated world number six Tomas Berdych in the semifinals.
“I’ve been winning a lot of matches this summer,” said Isner. “I feel like this tournament here is where I’m really starting to put it all together. I’ve beaten three Top 10 guys in a row. For me to do that, I have been playing well, really in pretty much all facets of my game. There’s definitely some stuff I can always improve on, but I do think I’m playing well.”
“I’m just very happy. Playing tournaments of this magnitude and being able to get wins like that on a packed stadium court full of American fans cheering me on, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Del Potro had a 5-3 lead in the second set but the Argentine uncharacteristically double-faulted on match point and was broken on serve. The American then snatched the momentum from thereon.
“I had my chance to beat him in the second (set),” del Potro said. “Serving for the match, I made too many errors for these kind of matches. And then in the end, he was fighting all the time. I think he deserves to win in the third set, but I missed my chance in the second set, and I’m very disappointed for that.”
