Second tallest player on the ATP tour at six feet and nine inches, John Isner will face the smallest man on tour Oliver Rochus who stands at five feet and six inches at the Newport final.
Top seed John Isner entered his first ATP World Tour final of the season on Saturday as he rallied past eighth seed Tobias Kamke 7-5, 7-6(4) in the semi-finals of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport.The six foot nine inch American took his ace tally to 54 as he smashed 12 aces past the German, Kamke. Isner broke serve once to snatch the first set, and obtained the second set in a tie-break to get to the win in 98 minutes. Isner said, "I was in a good rhythm with my serve and that's been the case this whole tournament. I had to compete out there and stay calm, and that's what I did for the most part."
Isner would be playing his first final since his final appearance at Atlanta almost a year ago where he lost a close encounter against fellow American Mardy Fish. In an attempt to become the third successive American champion at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament, Isner will play Olivier Rochus for the title.
The sixth seed fished out qualifier Michael Yani 6-2, 6-4 in 73 minutes to reach his second straight final in Newport. Rochus won 77 per cent of his service points and consolidated all his breaks of serve with ease and registered a straight set win to reach the final.
The Belgian will try to keep the ‘Casino Curse’ alive against Isner when the two will face each other for the first time on Sunday. Newport hasn’t had a number one triumph since Vijay Amritraj lifted the title at the inaugural event in 1976. Rochus said, "Playing against John in the final will be tough. He's got a big serve and he also plays well from the back. But I have nothing to lose and I will try to return his serve as best as I can, so we'll see what happens."
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