or... maybe better said.. the first player ever to take more than one set from Nadal at Roland Garros after 7 years of competing at the most physically demanding tournament in sport of tennis... if you think about that.. this guy nadal is not such a bad player on clay after all.. really..
@@sebastianciarfella3061 I think everyone knows what the match of Isner’s life is. In fact that match screwed Isner up for a while. This match was when he started getting back in the groove.
Isner is 6-11 and Nadal's heavy top spin kick ground strokes jump into his strike zone. Isner has decent ground stokes especially on the forehand. Add to that , Isner gets many free points with arguably the greatest serve in tennis history and that's a recipe for an upset. If this were best of 3, Rafa would have lost. Also, Isner defeated Roger Federer on Red clay too. Isner is a tough out for any player with a serve like that. It forces the opponent to hold. It's incredible pressure even on clay against Nadal. This was a magnificent match from both players. One of the best in French history because of the huge imposing game Isner presents versus the relentless ground game from Rafa.
@@user-mf5ue6rc5n fed stopped djokers 43 match winning streak (sorry if its 41 i cant remember) in like a 4 hour match, which isnt super long. but those two played so fucking good for those 4 sets, federer was defending perfectly, they had so many long rallies and it was the first time we saw peak djokovic outplayed in his prime. it was federers greatest clay court match of his life
Isner is about 6”10, that’s why Nadal’s topspin forehands weren’t affecting him, they were actually popping up perfectly for John. This is why Nadal struggled in this match, he wasn’t able to get Isner out of his comfort zone with the his bread and butter forehand.
No, thats not why, lmao.. Isner's height doesnt give him some insurance against Rafa who is unable against height of a certain player... he just didnt play that well for 3 sets. Normal day in the office he wipes Isner off the court.
Image if Isner won this, this would’ve been the biggest upset not only in Roland Garros history, but also in Tennis History in my opinion. Cause this was a 1st round match and at the time Nadal had 5 Roland Garros titles.
If Isner had won this match, actually, Federer would habe two trophy of RG. Nonetheless, the 2011 edition really was a wasted opportunity for Federer to win RG. The first set of the final still hurts.
@@claudioburgosgonzalez2844 yea that final was brutal. he could have easily gone at least 5 sets, the only thing that makes me doubt that he could have won it was the score in the 4th set being 6-1. but then again, its a big mental block when u go down, so fed def could've taken it. 2007 too.. he was like 1/23 on break points or something
Nah. Dustin Brown over Nadal in 4 sets in R2 at Wimbledon still is the craziest upset to me. Because Nadal didn't play bad. He just got smoked by a guy who you never know what's going to come off his racquet.
Its just unfair with Thiem. Isner have the greatest serve on tour, that gives him tons of free points. Thiem had to play 5 sets against Djokovic, the number 1 in the world. Besides, its totally different to play Nadal on early stages than playing him in the final. He is undefeated in the final (12-0), never pushed to a decider none of those occasions.
@21Youngstars ZH97 Could be a reason, but the main reason was obviously Isner's serve. Nadal faced only one break point in the entire match, which means he was not having problems to confirm his service games. You know, in tie breaks anything can happen.
It's beyond me how Nadal won RG in 2011. Was surely his worst run there just as worse as in 2015, but he still won. In fact he had to fight through very, very tough draw. I mean Isner for first round, then Ljubicic for round of 16, last year's finalist Soderling for quaters, then Murray at semi and Federer in the final.
Well, I guess Nadal can play at 50%, and still probably win the tournament. Where as how he played there in 2017, it's probably the closest thing to impossible within tennis to beat him there that year
NLLeFa its beyond me how you can exagerate like this. You really call Murray, Ljubicic and Isner great challenges for Nadal on clay ? The guy has 11h roland garros titles, a record of 2 defeats ever on surface in five sets play. Even for me , a big Federer fan, I just knew would happen the same in the final again. Soderling was devasteted in RG 2010 final in straight sets, and he played a really decent match. The only player that can challenge Nadal on clay is Djokovic at his very best, the others dont have weapons to hurt Nadal, sad but true.
@@@dusanperez9422 Thiem can challenge Nadal in other clay tournaments, yes, but not RG yet. Nadal and Thiem have played 3 times at RG, and it's been one sided every time so far. So I'm not convinced Thiem can really challenge Nadal at RG until I see it
What makes Nadal practically impossible to beat on clay is that aside from his consistently aggressive, yet safe groundstrokes on clay you are forced to play Nadal's game on the dirt. It dictates that you do. On hard or grass you can try to outhit him or go for broke and succeed. Clay doesn't let you do that. The surface forces you to play into Nadal's hands. On top of his great defense on any surface, you can't redline or play a very offensive strategy on clay long enough over 5 sets to get the best of Nadal. Especially when he's playing at a high level. Only Djokovic in his prime could possibly hang with an in form Nadal on clay over 5 sets.
Good point there. On clay you have to outplay your opponent. You have to earn your points and be patient. The serve is not a good weapon unlike on fast surfaces, so every point you win is due to huge work mainly from the baseline. You depend on yourself on that surface, howerver on fast courts even the best can lose to the worst if the worst has his day on serve. Even if you want to get into rallies and then control the point with your shots, the opponent can just go for his shots from any angle, as you said ''go for broke and succeed''. Main reason why I hate grass court tennis. Of course that's my opinion, I may be wrong, but I don't see how the grass court shows the quality of a player except for the serve and who goes to the net more often/faster.
yeah so what roger has done by dominating on surfaces that gives everyone a fare chance to play their game is more impressive than a very strong player in nadal who plays loopy shots over and over again to players weaker backhand shots that bounces to players shoulders hoping for misses which usually happens and what you admitted its hard to do anything about it because the crappy surface allows hum to do it while not allowing you to go for your own shots so if your are a fan of this surface knock yourself out but i would take federers all surface accomplishments and pure style of playing over nadals any day
NLLeFa because tennis is also a game about reflexed and skill. Grass forces you to react faster and hit more delicate shots which also require a lot of skill. Clay is mostly a battle of attrition whereas fast courts are about reflexes, timing and playing aggressively.
Rickey Brace grass produces the most boring tennis unless both the two players don't have big serves.Nadal-Djokovich on clay or slow hard court is much more entertaining than Federer-Isner on grass.Just two guys trying to out ace each other where most of the rallies are just three shots.
Rickey Brace not just loopy backhands but with a devastating forehand that produced a lot of winners.If Federer can't handle Nadal's backhand that's his problem.
Isner took more sets off Nadal here (2) than Nadal's next 6 opponents combined (1). Those 6 opponents included Federer (1 set), Murray (0), and Soderling (0); Soderling had reached the prior two FO finals. Part of this wild stat was Isner playing his best clay match, and part was Nadal coming into the French with an apparent huge loss of confidence after losing to Djokovic in 2 consecutive clay masters finals. This Isner match helped Nadal a lot; see his fire at the end.
Great match. We can see massive serves, heavy shotmaking and some shots rallies. In Nadal standards we could say that we needed play in "God Mode", trying to short rallies and Isner probably had the stronger serves and heavy forehand, for example. It bring diversity of strategies in Nadal standards, because American Tennis isn't defensive.
First class editing, and thank you so much for showing the score, it makes so much difference. I have watched loads of tennis uploads on TH-cam, many of which never show the score at all, which loses a lot of the tension when you don't know if it's game point, break point, or even what the set score is. I have asked why they can't show the score, and never get a reply.
I grew up in the US most my life and only played on clay when I lived in Mexico for 3 years when I was 18-21 yrs old. Clay surface is so different. I honestly love it.
@GTS Djokovic did it against worse version Rafa and only one time and soderling the man who got his ass handed to him two straight years after his victory Conclusion:Nadal on clay the highest level tennis world has ever seen
@GTS Hahaha saltiness level:1000 if you say that I can say the same for Roger Who runs like a cheetah on court at 38 etc... Maybe even Novak who knows ? Like it or not he will go down as the most invincible player on a specific surface in tennis history Cheers 🍺🍺🍺
@GTS Soderling yes. However, Chokovic was super lucky since he faced an injured Nadal. What's hilarious is that he still couldn't vulture the title that year.
@GTS Soderling and Djokovic were only able to catch the hobbling, diminished version on the One-Man Armada, Captain Rafael Barbossa. The other 9 times at Roland Garros, when facing Captain Nadal, they had to walk the plank.
Best match Isner has ever played in his life. Easily. And it was a R1 loss. If Rafa hadn't gone cheat code on that early return game in the 5th, this might have ended differently. But he's the GOAT for a reason.
The fans didn't want to see Nadal lose but they wanted to see him struggle to win. Isner was great and he has the mindset of a winner even he doesn't have the skills
Imagine you sign up for the The French Open during a season where you are playing the best tennis of your life, and in round 1 in the very first match, they tell you you are playing against Rafa Nadal.
Honour list of 5 sets against Nadal in Clay courts 1- Guillermo Coria Roma 2005 2- Roger Federer Roma 2006 3- John Isner Roland Garros 2011 4- Novak Djokovic Roland Garros 2013
Isner played a great match here, but Rafa really blew it in the second and third sets. If he won even one of those sets he would have had Isner under control.
The reason we call Nadal a fighter is because he has the ability to stay as mentally aggressive in the 5th set as he does in the first especially on clay where he uses the most energy to hit his shots
Un match de dingo ! Je l'ai regardé pendant les révisions du bac 😅 Nadal avait une Gnak et une qualité de jeu qui lui a permis de gagner contre Isner, qui lui était surpuissant avec ses aces et ses coups droit destructeurs... Un régal à regarder. C'est une époque qui va nous manquer sans un Rafa à Roland Garros 😌
After having seen some sequences of him, I really don't understand why so many tennis fans call Isner a "boring player", claiming that he "can't even play". He sure is out of the box due to his size, but I find him very spectacular.
@@davd1986 maybe yes, but be honest with yourself. Did federer ever take nadal to a 5th set in RG? john only needed 1 match to take him that far, meanwhile roger after 6 matches in RG only got as far as get to a 4th set, which means isner was closer to beat nadal in RG than federer, and i tell you this being a fed fan but at least I can see objectibly
The guy Rafa nadal has won 4 French open without dropping a set a record 4 times.. Rafa is a legend.. He might not win any more grand slams but he is the king of kings
il a vraiment souffert dans ce match un premier tour en 5 sets ! je pense que dans ces souvenirs ca sera le plus dur a roland garros avec celui de mathieu 2006 3eme tour
@@sandorhajdu1615 AO 2022 final: Rafa wins the greatest match of his career. I think it beats Wimbledon 2008 in epicness because he should have won Wimbledon 2008 F after being ahead 6-4, 6-4, 3-3, 0-40 (Rafa had THREE BREAK POINTS on Roger Federer's serve!). Here is a "washed up" 35 year old Nadal in the AO 2022 final after 6 months not playing and playing the best hard court player of the previous 12 months (25 year old Medvedev) yet he pulled off the miraculous comeback. FO 2022: Rafa wins yet again!!! He had the draw from hell here and he had to beat 4 Top 10 players (including Djokovic in the QF) to win a slam for the first time in his career while he was the #5 seed (not like Roger's #17 seed in 2017AO and Roger played 4 Top 10 players also but it is expected to play many Top 10 players if you are #17). He is still winning of course because he is the GOAT.
The advantage Isner had was because of his height. For other players returning balls at or above shoulder level is a huge problem in FO. But for Isner it was not the case. All balls were of waist height level for him
I really like this match this should have been there in top 5 matches of Rafa in Roland Garros,maybe this is just a round 1 match thats is why it isn't given that much importance,but Isner was close to the biggest shock and gave Rafa run for his money
ha ha...funny... but Rafa runs into the stands once too often... in wimbledon once he had to jump into the crowd because there was no more court left for him to run... he is the ultimate child-champ... the kid who will do anything to return the ball that the other guy fires at him...wonder if there will be another tennis player quite like him...
Isner did so well against Rafa because Rafa's thing is hitting spinny balls that kick up high on clay. The issue is, "high" is manageable if you're almost 7 feet tall
Tennis Universe Isner was able to do it because of his serve.Isner could probably beat guys on grass who overall are superior to Isner.If Isner had a serve like Nadal he wouldn't even be a top 100 player
Jeffrey Kaufmann I think he could be because of his forehand and net skills.. you can’t be good only because of your serve, otherwise you can’t break other players serve
This match is the definition of a moral victory. Taking Nadal to 5 sets at Roland Garros is basically a win.
It was obvious Isner was tiring after the third set
@@mbucd ot was the fact that he took 2 sets out of prime Nadal on Roland Garros
People don't realize that Isner was the first player to take Rafa to 5 sets in Roland Garros.
or... maybe better said.. the first player ever to take more than one set from Nadal at Roland Garros after 7 years of competing at the most physically demanding tournament in sport of tennis... if you think about that.. this guy nadal is not such a bad player on clay after all.. really..
Soderling took more than one set from him.
yea thats right.. I meant more than one and lost anyway:)
i think paul henri matheu also took rafa to a 5 setter. not sure but almost
4 sets were played in that match.
Isner should have been awarded the runner-up trophy
Well, it's true that he took Rafa more sets than Thiem in 2 finals :)
@@electrofreddy And more than Federer in the last 11 years also
@@theobecquet8477 that doesnt say much. Nadal was just warming up in that first round and wasnt playing his best tennis like he did against Federer.
@@theobecquet8477 not in Roland Garros but he took Rafa to 5th set and had 2 match points in Rome 2006
no, because djokovic wud have beaten nadal in 2011 if it wasnt for federer beating djokovic's ass.
Even though he lost I still believe Isner played the match of his life
Wish he won
The time I consider he played the match of his life was actually when he played the longest match ever, with a duration of 11hours and 40minutes
now i’d say miami 2018. that was an insane level from him
@@sebastianciarfella3061 I think everyone knows what the match of Isner’s life is. In fact that match screwed Isner up for a while. This match was when he started getting back in the groove.
Insane to think if Isner were a bit more clutch Federer could have got a 2nd RG
Those last few rallys to Isner's backhand were so barbaric.....amazing
Isner is 6-11 and Nadal's heavy top spin kick ground strokes jump into his strike zone. Isner has decent ground stokes especially on the forehand. Add to that , Isner gets many free points with arguably the greatest serve in tennis history and that's a recipe for an upset. If this were best of 3, Rafa would have lost. Also, Isner defeated Roger Federer on Red clay too. Isner is a tough out for any player with a serve like that. It forces the opponent to hold. It's incredible pressure even on clay against Nadal. This was a magnificent match from both players. One of the best in French history because of the huge imposing game Isner presents versus the relentless ground game from Rafa.
Well.. if Rafa lost Federer would have had a second RG most likely, since he beat Djoko in that legendary SF.
What so legendary about the SM
@@user-mf5ue6rc5n fed stopped djokers 43 match winning streak (sorry if its 41 i cant remember) in like a 4 hour match, which isnt super long. but those two played so fucking good for those 4 sets, federer was defending perfectly, they had so many long rallies and it was the first time we saw peak djokovic outplayed in his prime. it was federers greatest clay court match of his life
Nadal has been taken to 5 sets at Roland Garros only TWICE in his life!!
And one to 3 sets by Djoker Nole
Poštovalac Fudbala not relevant then
Who plays nadal in 5 set at Paris? Other than isner
Ali Lahlou Djokovic
Matthew Crowell No, it was 4 sets against Mathieu in 2006.
Isner is about 6”10, that’s why Nadal’s topspin forehands weren’t affecting him, they were actually popping up perfectly for John. This is why Nadal struggled in this match, he wasn’t able to get Isner out of his comfort zone with the his bread and butter forehand.
Ibrahim Salem I would say it was his serve and volleys that bothered Nadal. Nadal destroyed him in baseline rallies. Lol
right but also Nadal was playing very passively. Isner did some pretty good serve and volley.
Both are correct
It was the mental decline because of his struggle he had with djoker. He was going through a lot.
No, thats not why, lmao.. Isner's height doesnt give him some insurance against Rafa who is unable against height of a certain player... he just didnt play that well for 3 sets. Normal day in the office he wipes Isner off the court.
Image if Isner won this, this would’ve been the biggest upset not only in Roland Garros history, but also in Tennis History in my opinion. Cause this was a 1st round match and at the time Nadal had 5 Roland Garros titles.
If Isner had won this match, actually, Federer would habe two trophy of RG.
Nonetheless, the 2011 edition really was a wasted opportunity for Federer to win RG. The first set of the final still hurts.
@@claudioburgosgonzalez2844 yea that final was brutal. he could have easily gone at least 5 sets, the only thing that makes me doubt that he could have won it was the score in the 4th set being 6-1. but then again, its a big mental block when u go down, so fed def could've taken it. 2007 too.. he was like 1/23 on break points or something
Nah. Dustin Brown over Nadal in 4 sets in R2 at Wimbledon still is the craziest upset to me. Because Nadal didn't play bad. He just got smoked by a guy who you never know what's going to come off his racquet.
@@claudioburgosgonzalez2844 Rafa would have still have won in 4 even if he had lost the first set
Compare Nadal celebration after winning R1 match to winning final in 2008
That last game was brutal.
Isner was totally tired
He said : "I was about to faint" 😦
@@carlospiso Really? Wow
Yeah you can see Rafa played pretty conservative there, just wearing John out.
Isner was exhausted in the 4th and 5th set. He made quite an outstanding effort, comparable to what Thiem did in this year's final
Its just unfair with Thiem. Isner have the greatest serve on tour, that gives him tons of free points. Thiem had to play 5 sets against Djokovic, the number 1 in the world. Besides, its totally different to play Nadal on early stages than playing him in the final. He is undefeated in the final (12-0), never pushed to a decider none of those occasions.
@@luisf.2903 yeap, good point
@21Youngstars ZH97 Could be a reason, but the main reason was obviously Isner's serve. Nadal faced only one break point in the entire match, which means he was not having problems to confirm his service games. You know, in tie breaks anything can happen.
Nadal in the final is a different beast. This was a first round match where Nadal made many unforced errors.
Thiem was defeated mentally after the third set. He pretty much handed the fourth on a plate...
Isner's touch at the net this match was goddamn amazing
exactly ! Isner's soft hand killing the ball on every volley... really good !
It's beyond me how Nadal won RG in 2011. Was surely his worst run there just as worse as in 2015, but he still won. In fact he had to fight through very, very tough draw. I mean Isner for first round, then Ljubicic for round of 16, last year's finalist Soderling for quaters, then Murray at semi and Federer in the final.
Well, I guess Nadal can play at 50%, and still probably win the tournament. Where as how he played there in 2017, it's probably the closest thing to impossible within tennis to beat him there that year
NLLeFa its beyond me how you can exagerate like this. You really call Murray, Ljubicic and Isner great challenges for Nadal on clay ? The guy has 11h roland garros titles, a record of 2 defeats ever on surface in five sets play. Even for me , a big Federer fan, I just knew would happen the same in the final again. Soderling was devasteted in RG 2010 final in straight sets, and he played a really decent match. The only player that can challenge Nadal on clay is Djokovic at his very best, the others dont have weapons to hurt Nadal, sad but true.
And thiem, and a peak wawrinka
@@luisf.2903 You're a bit of an idiot if you think Murray isn't a challenge
@@@dusanperez9422 Thiem can challenge Nadal in other clay tournaments, yes, but not RG yet. Nadal and Thiem have played 3 times at RG, and it's been one sided every time so far. So I'm not convinced Thiem can really challenge Nadal at RG until I see it
Who's watching in 2020 lol
What makes Nadal practically impossible to beat on clay is that aside from his consistently aggressive, yet safe groundstrokes on clay you are forced to play Nadal's game on the dirt. It dictates that you do. On hard or grass you can try to outhit him or go for broke and succeed. Clay doesn't let you do that. The surface forces you to play into Nadal's hands. On top of his great defense on any surface, you can't redline or play a very offensive strategy on clay long enough over 5 sets to get the best of Nadal. Especially when he's playing at a high level. Only Djokovic in his prime could possibly hang with an in form Nadal on clay over 5 sets.
Good point there. On clay you have to outplay your opponent. You have to earn your points and be patient. The serve is not a good weapon unlike on fast surfaces, so every point you win is due to huge work mainly from the baseline. You depend on yourself on that surface, howerver on fast courts even the best can lose to the worst if the worst has his day on serve. Even if you want to get into rallies and then control the point with your shots, the opponent can just go for his shots from any angle, as you said ''go for broke and succeed''. Main reason why I hate grass court tennis. Of course that's my opinion, I may be wrong, but I don't see how the grass court shows the quality of a player except for the serve and who goes to the net more often/faster.
yeah so what roger has done by dominating on surfaces that gives everyone a fare chance to play their game is more impressive than a very strong player in nadal who plays loopy shots over and over again to players weaker backhand shots that bounces to players shoulders hoping for misses which usually happens and what you admitted its hard to do anything about it because the crappy surface allows hum to do it while not allowing you to go for your own shots so if your are a fan of this surface knock yourself out but i would take federers all surface accomplishments and pure style of playing over nadals any day
NLLeFa because tennis is also a game about reflexed and skill. Grass forces you to react faster and hit more delicate shots which also require a lot of skill. Clay is mostly a battle of attrition whereas fast courts are about reflexes, timing and playing aggressively.
Rickey Brace grass produces the most boring tennis unless both the two players don't have big serves.Nadal-Djokovich on clay or slow hard court is much more entertaining than Federer-Isner on grass.Just two guys trying to out ace each other where most of the rallies are just three shots.
Rickey Brace not just loopy backhands but with a devastating forehand that produced a lot of winners.If Federer can't handle Nadal's backhand that's his problem.
Isner took more sets off Nadal here (2) than Nadal's next 6 opponents combined (1). Those 6 opponents included Federer (1 set), Murray (0), and Soderling (0); Soderling had reached the prior two FO finals. Part of this wild stat was Isner playing his best clay match, and part was Nadal coming into the French with an apparent huge loss of confidence after losing to Djokovic in 2 consecutive clay masters finals. This Isner match helped Nadal a lot; see his fire at the end.
True, and first round matches are always difficult for a defending champion.
Just look at his coaches' faces. They remain sceptical but they're happy to see how John is having such a great time. Pretty close from the epic
The best match of isner's career!!!
Great match. We can see massive serves, heavy shotmaking and some shots rallies. In Nadal standards we could say that we needed play in "God Mode", trying to short rallies and Isner probably had the stronger serves and heavy forehand, for example. It bring diversity of strategies in Nadal standards, because American Tennis isn't defensive.
Man, it is really surprising that Isner put such a fight to Nadal at RG!
2019 and this dude is still winning French Opens
and US Opens!
@@brianmannion7097 and losing to Djokovic
@@oscardiaz9170 and winning
@@oscardiaz9170 dirty fan of Dogkovic
@zakaria djouzi 4-4 in finals
At 14:17 , Nadal bummed his game up 2 levels and it was all in the books after that
One of the first players to take Nadal to 5 sets. Isner probably made a copy of that scoreboard and framed it in his home.
First ever
Right below his scoreboard against Mahut in Wimbledon 2010
First class editing, and thank you so much for showing the score, it makes so much difference. I have watched loads of tennis uploads on TH-cam, many of which never show the score at all, which loses a lot of the tension when you don't know if it's game point, break point, or even what the set score is. I have asked why they can't show the score, and never get a reply.
I grew up in the US most my life and only played on clay when I lived in Mexico for 3 years when I was 18-21 yrs old. Clay surface is so different. I honestly love it.
That was a scary first round for Nadal.. 🤣
JESUS Christ these serves from Isner are INSANE
At the end, it felt like the match was between Isner and his teenage son.
Damn as soon as Nadal lost set 4 he turned on beast mode and just CRUSHED every return DAMN
Thank you so much for the upload. Awesome quality. I always remember this match....
14:15 insane two return serve points... Beast!!!
_"Gentlemen, my lady ... You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Rafael Nadal, of the One-Man Armada ..."_ -- Jack Sparrow
@GTS God you're scraping the barrel with Rafa's record at RG!
@GTS Djokovic did it against worse version Rafa and only one time and soderling the man who got his ass handed to him two straight years after his victory
Conclusion:Nadal on clay the highest level tennis world has ever seen
@GTS Hahaha saltiness level:1000 if you say that I can say the same for Roger Who runs like a cheetah on court at 38 etc...
Maybe even Novak who knows ?
Like it or not he will go down as the most invincible player on a specific surface in tennis history
Cheers 🍺🍺🍺
@GTS Soderling yes. However, Chokovic was super lucky since he faced an injured Nadal. What's hilarious is that he still couldn't vulture the title that year.
@GTS
Soderling and Djokovic were only able to catch the hobbling, diminished version on the One-Man Armada, Captain Rafael Barbossa.
The other 9 times at Roland Garros, when facing Captain Nadal, they had to walk the plank.
Isners' volleying skills here was superb. Amazing!!!
Best match Isner has ever played in his life. Easily. And it was a R1 loss. If Rafa hadn't gone cheat code on that early return game in the 5th, this might have ended differently. But he's the GOAT for a reason.
He just added #14 FO and #22 overall :D
I wonder if you can have a conversation with nadal and uncle toni only consisting of the word 'vamos' :D :D :D
yes ! or Toni could beat you on a chess game haha
XD XD
are you an idiot?
@DS lol que? 🤣😂
what a game,bravo isner.im fan of rafa but have to admit isner is a formidible force to reckon with.
Great game from isner I didn't know he was that good .
He had an excellent serve but not much else.
The fans didn't want to see Nadal lose but they wanted to see him struggle to win. Isner was great and he has the mindset of a winner even he doesn't have the skills
I think they wanted to see him lose just for a change.
Imagine you sign up for the The French Open during a season where you are playing the best tennis of your life, and in round 1 in the very first match, they tell you you are playing against Rafa Nadal.
Honour list of 5 sets against Nadal in Clay courts
1- Guillermo Coria Roma 2005
2- Roger Federer Roma 2006
3- John Isner Roland Garros 2011
4- Novak Djokovic Roland Garros 2013
Felix Auger-Aliassime Roland Garros 2022
4 set against Paul henri Mathieu in roland garros, what a battle
Isner played a great match here, but Rafa really blew it in the second and third sets. If he won even one of those sets he would have had Isner under control.
I'm so pissed ferder lost the final. He'd been flawless throughout the whole tournament. That was HIS moment, and yet he failed.
@Oliver McCall He had an opportunitu but choked as too often
rafa is a tough opponent
nadal is a legend
Yes indeed
exelent movie man thanks
Now he retired today.. Love you Isner.. Waited alot for seeing your serve games
The reason we call Nadal a fighter is because he has the ability to stay as mentally aggressive in the 5th set as he does in the first especially on clay where he uses the most energy to hit his shots
WOW...never knew of this match... fantastic
A tough first round win for Rafa. Isner with the match of his life
lol I think everyone knows what the match of Isner’s life is
I think this is the best match John has ever played.
Un match de dingo ! Je l'ai regardé pendant les révisions du bac 😅
Nadal avait une Gnak et une qualité de jeu qui lui a permis de gagner contre Isner, qui lui était surpuissant avec ses aces et ses coups droit destructeurs... Un régal à regarder.
C'est une époque qui va nous manquer sans un Rafa à Roland Garros 😌
El mejor partido que vi de isner en toda su carrera
After having seen some sequences of him, I really don't understand why so many tennis fans call Isner a "boring player", claiming that he "can't even play". He sure is out of the box due to his size, but I find him very spectacular.
It's one match.
bibana06 bruh he’s a servebot.
@@davd1986 maybe yes, but be honest with yourself. Did federer ever take nadal to a 5th set in RG? john only needed 1 match to take him that far, meanwhile roger after 6 matches in RG only got as far as get to a 4th set, which means isner was closer to beat nadal in RG than federer, and i tell you this being a fed fan but at least I can see objectibly
If Isner had beaten Rafa here, Roger would have most definitely won his second Roland Garros !!!
if
If there is no Nadal Federer would have won 30 gs
You’rejustafreaklikeme what do you mean?
@You’rejustafreaklikeme fed can win 4 to 5 fos ,2009 ao,2014 ao 2008 wimby so approximately 27 is possible
I just came to see again this monster serve.
The guy Rafa nadal has won 4 French open without dropping a set a record 4 times.. Rafa is a legend..
He might not win any more grand slams but he is the king of kings
Isner's so tall he has to get down to get Rafa's topspin forehand lol
il a vraiment souffert dans ce match un premier tour en 5 sets ! je pense que dans ces souvenirs ca sera le plus dur a roland garros avec celui de mathieu 2006 3eme tour
Isner one of the best and GREAT players of his generation
Its 2017 and Nadal just fist pumped again.
It´s 2019 and Nadal just fist pumped again. 12th Roland Garros and counting, baby!
It's 2020 and Corona Virus is unstoppable. French hasn't started yet but Nadal is already beaten for a 3rd time at RG.
RG 2020 final : Djokovic won 7 games
Nadal is still winning of course.
@@sandorhajdu1615 AO 2022 final: Rafa wins the greatest match of his career. I think it beats Wimbledon 2008 in epicness because he should have won Wimbledon 2008 F after being ahead 6-4, 6-4, 3-3, 0-40 (Rafa had THREE BREAK POINTS on Roger Federer's serve!). Here is a "washed up" 35 year old Nadal in the AO 2022 final after 6 months not playing and playing the best hard court player of the previous 12 months (25 year old Medvedev) yet he pulled off the miraculous comeback.
FO 2022: Rafa wins yet again!!! He had the draw from hell here and he had to beat 4 Top 10 players (including Djokovic in the QF) to win a slam for the first time in his career while he was the #5 seed (not like Roger's #17 seed in 2017AO and Roger played 4 Top 10 players also but it is expected to play many Top 10 players if you are #17).
He is still winning of course because he is the GOAT.
@@nogoodnameleft And he won the RG as well after injured, defeated Novak QF.
You won 2 sets against Rafa at Roland garros and you are neither nole or Roger you are a legend 🤣 and
It’s crazy how you can just almost tell when a player out of the big 3 has the passion as much as they do...
Surely his toughest win at RG. I mean look at him after the final point, he was so happy like he won the title
Big John almost pulled off the impossible.
erom1970 lost concentration on serve.
Yes, his legs r too small n fragile for a 5 set marathon. In t end of t match he gets flat tyres.
It was a first round , Rafa wasn't on fire yet on his level to kill !
Incredible effort from Isner
Awesome
I love how isner’s coaches are like 💪 the whole match
They knew it Isner could not done !
El mejor partido d Isner d todos los tiempos
The advantage Isner had was because of his height. For other players returning balls at or above shoulder level is a huge problem in FO. But for Isner it was not the case. All balls were of waist height level for him
BOTH PLAYERS ENERGY FULL, PRACTICE FULL, STAMINA FULL AND STRONG FULL ........
BUT WINER IS WONDERFUL.......
Seems like a few very important points were left out, esp. at the end of the third set.
Tremendous effort and fight from Isner..very tough match for both, but John couldn't out grind the ultimate grinder..
1st round 5 set wow
what a boost an Isner win would have given for tennis...shame he couldn't find a way
@DS Federer was not playing in this match...I just like the big guy...
Isner's Match of his Life. 👏🏻
isner took rafa to 5 sets without a single break point opportunity
Took 1 chance at 3-4 2nd set.
Bro..Rafa breaked his serve in both 1 n 2 sets watch it againl
no isner broke rafa in the second set
I really like this match this should have been there in top 5 matches of Rafa in Roland Garros,maybe this is just a round 1 match thats is why it isn't given that much importance,but Isner was close to the biggest shock and gave Rafa run for his money
as a die hard Rafa Fan i was really afraid of this match...
Isner gets 2 flat tyres as the match marches on to t final. Nadal simply out-punches Isner. He needs a long, long rest after t match.
epic
This is 2018"it will never change"untill Nadal retires
22 Grand Slam trophies now in 2022. He just added 2022 AO and 2022 FO. Incredible.
This is probably best isner's performance in a grand slam despite losing.
If only Big John had the serve he had today at that time or he has this movement today. Would be close to undefeatable.
Who is here after Nole took the 3rd set?
Isner played really well against Nadal! Especially since they were on clay, I'm so proud of you my giant American!!
Isner was on fire!!!!!!!... But it was first round.. Nadal needed to warm up
Nah what is er lacked was stamina
10:16 Homerun save
ha ha...funny... but Rafa runs into the stands once too often... in wimbledon once he had to jump into the crowd because there was no more court left for him to run... he is the ultimate child-champ... the kid who will do anything to return the ball that the other guy fires at him...wonder if there will be another tennis player quite like him...
Isner did so well against Rafa because Rafa's thing is hitting spinny balls that kick up high on clay. The issue is, "high" is manageable if you're almost 7 feet tall
Despite Isner's game of his life, look at the scorecard from Rafa 6,6,6,6,6 he is so tough to play I guess, no matter why he is goat🐐
Isner played fucking well here, I’m amazed
Best performance anyone showed up against Rafa @Roland Garros
other mention would be Djokovic in 2013
Soderling?
@@paulbredewoud2304 yes,the best
Why is the stadium empty?
At the beginning of the 4th set Nadal summoned the gods. And they answered.
Best round 1 match for Ronald garros
I’d love to see a Nadal vs Opelka match here lol
mentality is where the diffrence is
I wish they played in More RGs
Who would have thought Isner would take Rafa to 5 sets. I would have expected Federer or Djoko to do so.
Tennis Universe Isner was able to do it because of his serve.Isner could probably beat guys on grass who overall are superior to Isner.If Isner had a serve like Nadal he wouldn't even be a top 100 player
Tennis Universe it’s been done before, novak did it in 2013 and damn near had him.
If it wasn’t for touching the net, I think he would have beat him.
Jeffrey Kaufmann I think he could be because of his forehand and net skills.. you can’t be good only because of your serve, otherwise you can’t break other players serve
@@schwozluv8364 if it wasn't for the simple backhand error,Rafa would win the 2012 AO open