Roger Federer vs. John Isner: Score and Reaction from 2015 US Open

The U.S. Open crowd in Queens, New York, did its best to support John Isner as the American went up against the legendary Roger Federer in the fourth round Monday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Isner hung tough and had his chances against his favored opponent but ultimately fell to Federer for the fifth time in six meetings by a score of 7-6, 7-6, 7-5.

The "Sneak Attack by Roger" tactics Federer has deployed to revamp his return game at this stage of his career couldn't be utilized often against a massive server in Isner. That required Federer to stay patient, strike with precision and avoid unforced errors, pressing Isner to match him shot for shot.

As he's been known to do, Federer executed his game plan to near perfection, hitting a whopping 55 winners compared to only 16 unforced errors. Isner had solid numbers of 53 and 34 in those respective categories.

Prior to the match, Federer spoke about the SABR strategy and how it pertained to his impending opponent, per the Associated Press (via NBCBayArea.com):

"

The idea is not to use it very much against a player like that. I have done pretty well over the years against big servers, so, I mean, clearly I will think about it. But I don't think that's going to be the turning point of the match, to be quite honest. I need to make sure I protect my own serve first.

"

Federer protected his serve with 15 aces to Isner's 17, but Isner did a commendable job of holding his own. The only break occurred in the final game as Federer sealed the deal in style:

Nick McCarvel of USA Today passed along a stat that showed how impressive Federer was in closing out his latest adversary:

Of course, both players held serve all the way to the first-set tiebreaker. Isner was pushed to 30-30 on his serve, down 6-5, yet managed to hold.

Seizing control right away in the extra points, though, Federer struck a big backhand winner down the line that tilted the tiebreaker 3-0 in his favor:

The point appeared to defeat Isner's spirit during that pivotal stretch as Federer rolled en route to a 7-0 shutout. Never before had Isner been beaten in such lopsided fashion, as ESPN Tennis noted:

"

First time in Isner's career he lost a tiebreaker 7-0. This was his 429th career tiebreaker. #USOpen #ESPNTennis

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 8, 2015"

Nick Nemeroff of Tennis View Magazine highlighted how rare it was for Federer to take his foot off the gas under such circumstances:

Adversity beset Isner when he went on serve at 1-1 in the second set, faced deuce seven times and emptied all his challenges in that span. A clutch hold gave him a shot of momentum as he took the first three points on Federer's serve in the subsequent game.

However, Isner couldn't convert any of the three golden break opportunities—and even had three deuce games to get the job done thereafter. As effective as Isner's serve was as an equalizer, it wasn't enough to compensate for the fact that Federer was unflappable.

DON EMMERT/Getty Images

A nice rally saw Isner bounce back from a 30-0 deficit at 5-5 to hold before getting two points off Federer in the next game, setting up yet another tiebreaker to decide the second set. The extended action went better than it did the prior time, as Isner got the mini break with a backhand on the line to go up 4-2.

Federer somehow returned a 140 mph serve off Isner's racket, won the point to cut the deficit to 5-4 and forced the pressure back onto Isner.

Although he fought off a set point at 6-5, Isner hit a 128 mph serve into his opponent's forehand wheelhouse to fall down 7-6, and Federer destroyed a backhand that painted the line yet again on set point No. 2 to take a two-set lead:

WTA standout Heather Watson reacted to Federer's brilliant back-to-back display:

From there, it was unfathomable that Isner could make it into much of a match, particularly in light of Federer's history in major events:

"

That backhand  Federer takes commanding two sets to love lead over Isner. The World No.2 is 235-2 when winning first two sets in Majors.

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 8, 2015"

Howard Bryant of ESPN The Magazine applauded Isner's late-match resolve—even if it was too little, too late:

Moving on to yet another Grand Slam quarterfinals appearance, it's business as usual for Federer, who will take on 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet in the final eight. The draw is favorable, suggesting Federer may be destined to square off with Novak Djokovic in the final.

Kevin Anderson—who upset Andy Murray on Monday—or Stan Wawrinka will pose a prospective challenge for Federer in the semis, yet King Roger is cruising at the moment and seems indefatigable at 34 years old.

Djokovic defeated Federer in their prior major matchup in the Wimbledon final, but Federer got the better of their battle for the Cincinnati Masters title more recently. All the two need to do is win two more matches apiece to meet once more in what would be an epic conclusion to the 2015 Grand Slam campaign.