Tennis - ATP World Tour — John Isner RSS

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John Isner celebrates winning the Miami Open presented by Itau crown, his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, in this Moët Moment. Photo: Michael Reeves/Getty Images

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 View Latest ATP Rankings No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta, +7 The Spaniard jumped seven places to No. 12, two spots off...

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....