Isner falls to Roddick

Isner Almost All the Way

In an unprecedented battle, Isner hangs with A-Rod until getting broken in the daunting "7th game" of the first set sending a forehand rifle just long, after which Roddick had little trouble serving out the set, which he polished off with an ace.

In the second set Isner fought hard and hung with Roddick, who was not used to having the American-favoring crowd cheering for another American.  The second set ended in a tiebreaker, which by now nearly exhausted Isner (think of his 5 consecutive 3rd set tie breaks leading up to this final!) lost when he sent a backhand long, giving Andy the "mini break," after which A-Rod served it out, ending the match in 81 minutes. 

Isner would have been one of the three lowest ranked players in ATP history to win a title (the other two are Lleyton Hewitt at Adelaide in 1998 (ranked 550) and Yahiya Doumbia at Lyon in 1988 (ranked 453).