US Open Tennis 2011: John Isner's Inspired Play Is Sign of Things to Come

Ultimately, John Isner will be disappointed. He had taken a set off of Andy Murray, and if he had simply won a tiebreaker, of which he had won so many to that point in the tournament, he would have tied Murray at two sets apiece.

As it was, Murray won the tiebreaker fairly easily and moved on to the semifinals instead of Isner.

Based on how well he played for nearly two weeks in New York, Isner has nothing to hang his head about. Results like this one will come a lot more often in the future.

More so than any player other than fellow American Donald Young, Isner had a breakthrough performance at the US Open.

Before this tournament, Isner was viewed as a dangerous player thanks to his powerful serve, but he wasn't taken seriously as a contender to make a deep run.

His run to the quarterfinals in New York will change that perception. John Isner is a threat to win any tournament he enters from this point forward.

His serve was clicking as it so often is, but that's not what made his play so special during this tournament. Isner was cracking forehands left and right and he was moving really well. Isner often looks sleepy and lethargic on court, but don't let that fool you. With a reach that big, he can get to a lot of balls you wouldn't expect him to.

It's also not like Isner got breaks in the draw around him to make this lucky run. Sure, Robin Soderling having to drop out helped, but he wasn't going to be a factor with all of his injuries anyway.

Isner took out steady veteran Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. After beating Americans Robby Ginepri and Alex Bolgomolov, Jr. in back-to-back matches, Isner had his best match of the tournament when he outlasted Frenchman Gilles Simon in four sets.

Isner spent much of the latter part of 2010 and early part of 2011 shaking off his marathon match at Wimbledon against Nicolas Mahut. At the US Open, he finally looked to be nearing full strength once again.

Even if other fans and media are slower to catch on, I guarantee you the other players have caught on. John Isner is a force to be reckoned with in men's tennis.