Lleyton Hewitt returns the ball to Rajeev Ram, during a semifinal match at the Hall of Fame tennis championships in Newport on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)
NEWPORT, Rhode Island (AP) ― John Isner feels comfortable being back in the United States.
He’s showing it by dominating his opponents.
Top seed and defending champ Isner advanced to the final at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships by beating fellow American Ryan Harrison 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Saturday afternoon.
Isner, ranked 11th, will face Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in the title match Sunday. Hewitt, a former world No. 1, defeated American Rajeev Ram 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
The matches were held after Jennifer Capriati and four others were enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Isner is looking to become the first repeat champion on Newport’s grass courts since France’s Fabrice Santoro in 2008.
Joining Capriati in a 90-minute on-court ceremony were recently retired player Gustavo Kuerten, master player Manuel Orantes, tennis industry executive Mike Davies and wheelchair champion Randy Snow, who was honored posthumously.
Isner took control by winning the first set tiebreak, improving his record to an ATP-best mark of 24-10 in tiebreaks this year.
Similar to last year, he’s used his overpowering serve to take charge in matches. So far this week, he’s held serve in 46 of 47 chances.
“It’s feeling very similar actually, eerily similar,” he said. “Last year I wasn’t playing well and I came here and I desperately needed wins and confidence. This year I’m ranked a lot higher (than last year) but I didn’t play well in Europe ― simple as that.”
He realizes his play improves with his return to America.
“I’m always most comfortable in the States. That’s something I need to work on. I really want to do well here,” said Isner, looking for his fourth ATP tour title. “I’ve been focused since the first day I practiced.”
He wrapped up the match with a forehand winner down the line.
Hewitt, coming off five surgeries in four years, entered the week ranked 233rd and was looking to accumulate matches in his comeback bid before he represents Australia for the London Olympics.
“It’s about getting wins and putting yourself in position,” said Hewitt, looking for his 29th career ATP title. “I think more than anything it’s about self-belief and self-confidence.
“You doubt yourself a little bit more when you’re coming back from surgery. You can’t just click your fingers and start moving and playing the way you want to play. That’s sometimes frustrating.”
Hewitt, a wild card, broke in the third game of the final set to go up 2-1 when he hit a well-placed backhand cross on Ram’s second serve. He then held in the fourth game, before breaking again in the fifth, and holding in the sixth to take a commanding lead.
On the final point, Ram hit a forehand service return into the net, closing the match in 2 hours, 20 minutes.
Ram said it was special to face a two-time Grand Slam champion.
“I hope I’m still playing when he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame because that’s going to happen someday,” Ram said.
Hewitt captured the 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon.
Hewitt had trailed 4-1 in the opening set before winning the final five games. Tied 4-all and holding a break advantage in the ninth game, he hit a perfectly placed backhand down the line to go up 5-4.
He then closed out the set at love.
In the second set, Ram opened a 5-2 lead. After Hewitt held serve, Ram faulted on seven of eight serves in the ninth game, including the final two points to see his lead sliced to 5-4.
“I had a really tough day serving,” Ram said. “That was a big part of the problem.”
Coco Vandeweghe reaches first WTA final
STANFORD (AP) ― Lucky loser Coco Vandeweghe reached her first WTA Tour final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory against Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer on Saturday at the Bank of the West Classic.
Wickmayer double-faulted to hand Vandeweghe a service break to go ahead 3-1 in the final set. Vandeweghe saved four break points in the next game and watched Wickmayer double fault again on match point.
Vandeweghe dropped her racket in disbelief, ran to the sideline and jumped into the arms of her mother, Tauna. The 20-year-old from Southern California had never even made a WTA semifinal until she knocked off Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4 a day earlier.
“It’s a dream come true for me being in the finals of a WTA event,” Vandeweghe said. “Hopefully this is a good omen for the rest of the summer for me.”
She will play the winner of the night match between 14-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. Williams beat Vandeweghe in a World TeamTennis match that ended in a nine-point tiebreaker at 5-all last summer in their only professional meeting.
Vandeweghe wasn’t even supposed to be around at Stanford this week.
She failed to make it out of qualifying and only got into the main draw when Bojana Jovanovski withdrew with an injury. The last lucky loser to advance to a WTA final was eventual runner-up Melinda Czink in 2005 at Canberra, Australia.
A potential All-American final on the hard court took shape from the start.
Vandeweghe broke Wickmayer in the opening game and pounded 12 total aces with a serve that topped 121 mph. She also won 31 of 36 points on her first serve.
With a series of shouts and screams following every winner, Wickmayer tried to motivate herself back into the match. She smacked a running forward passing shot down the line on set point in the second, pumped her fist and screamed “Come on!”
The Belgian missed a forward long to give Vandeweghe a break point at 2-1. Then she double faulted while serving into the sun, giving the young American the break.
Vandeweghe went down 15-40 in the next game before flicking a forehand to the base line to force Wickmayer into an error and followed with another ace. She held off two more break points ― the last coming on an ace ― and stayed steady until Wickmayer served into the net on match point.
“She served very well. I knew if I lost my serve, it was tough for me to get it back,” Wickmayer said. “She just aced it away. Nothing really I could do.”
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
