US Open 2013: Five players who flattered to deceive in the first week

John Isner (and the American men)

John Isner, the only American in the top 20, traditionally thrives on these hardcourts. And given the drought American men’s tennis has been facing, hopes had rested on the 28-year-old to carry the torch forward at this Open.

After all, Isner had been coming off a sizzling summer in the lead-up to the US Open. A title at Atlanta and a final the following week at Washington – the 6’10’’ John Isner looked to be soaring with confidence. And he only surged from there. At Cincinnati, he stunned Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro and looked unstoppable until he locked horns with the imperious Rafa Nadal.

A similar meeting looked impending in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. But Isner found it hard to surmount the barrier that he failed to penetrate last year too – Philipp Kohlschreiber. The German dwarfed him in four sets and Isner looked visibly fatigued and ridiculously short of motivation.

John Isner’s ouster was followed by Tim Smyczek’s departure which left American men’s tennis reeling from the shock of having no American man in the Round of 16 of the US Open for the first time in the Open Era.