NEW YORK — Don’t be surprised if there’s a tiebreaker or two when Canada’s Milos Raonic squares off with American John Isner in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
All five of the previous matches between two of the hardest servers in men’s tennis have had at least one tiebreaker, with both players among the leaders when it comes to avoiding breaks.
It’s a rematch of a Wimbledon quarterfinal, won in four sets (the players split two tiebreakers) by Isner, the 11th seed at the U.S. Open. Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., comes into Sunday’s match as the No. 25 seed.
"(Raonic) seems to be playing very well, I think back to his level of a few years past," the 33-year-old Isner said after a four-set win over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia on Friday. "I mean, I have the utmost respect for him. I think he’s an excellent player, he’s proved that his whole career.
"It will be a tough match certainly. We’ve played a handful of times. Matches between us are inherently close, as you can imagine. But we’ll see what happens."
Isner, coming off a career-best Grand Slam (semifinals at Wimbledon), has the 4-1 lead over Raonic in head-to-head competition. Nine of their 13 sets have ended in tiebreaks.
Over the past 52 weeks, the six-foot-10 Isner leads the ATP Tour in service games won (94.2 per cent). The six-foot-five Raonic is fourth at 90.4 per cent.
On the other hand, Raonic is 70th in return games won, while Isner is 88th.
"I think we’re both quite aware of what the other guy wants to do," the 27-year-old Raonic said after his straight-sets triumph over 2016 U.S. Open champ Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Friday night.
"We’re both aware that opportunities are not going to be that often arising. It’s going to be important to be disciplined and to make sure you sort of are always getting there, giving yourself some kind of situations, that you’re disciplined and sharp with yourself when those situations arise."
Raonic said he feels like he’s playing at his best level since late 2016. He’s coming off a run to the quarterfinals at an ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.
Raonic never has reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, which he can do with one more win. He was eliminated in the round of 16 in three straight years from 2012-14.
Isner, meanwhile, is awaiting the birth of his first child. His wife, Madison, is expecting to have a baby this month. It’s possible he might have to leave the U.S. Open on short notice.
"I’m not going to miss the birth, but we’ll see," said Isner, whose best U.S. Open showing was a run to the quarterfinals in 2011. "Again, I said before, can’t control that."
Raonic is the lone Canadian left in the singles draw after Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost in five sets to Kevin Anderson on Friday.
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