The Baseline Top 10: Isner's summer hard-court highs

Throughout his professional career, the summer hard-court swing before the US Open has been John Isner’s time to shine. Case in point: He just reached the semifinals at this year's Masters ATP 1000 in Cincinnati after winning crowns in both Newport and Atlanta.

Here’s a look back at 10 of the American’s best tournament runs over that time through the years:

10

2010 Atlanta Open final

In his fourth final of the year, Isner dropped a third-set tiebreak to his compatriot, Mardy Fish.

9

2011 Atlanta Open final

Isner arrived at the tournament fresh off his first grass-court title in Newport, but his winning streak ended at Fish’s hands once again.

8

2012 Rogers Cup semifinals

Whether it was kicking field goals or blasting aces, Isner was accurate throughout the tournament. His run to the semifinals included a quarterfinal win over hometown hope Milos Raonic.

7

2012 Winston-Salem Open title

Isner, the defending champion, won back-to-back third-set tiebreaks over former Grand Slam finalists Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych in the semifinals and final, respectively.

6

2013 Cincinnati final

In what was perhaps his best summer stretch to date, Cincinnati was Isner’s third final in four tournaments. Along his way to the title match, he beat four of the world’s Top 11 players before having his run stopped by Rafael Nadal.

5

2014 Atlanta Open title

Playing in his fourth final at the tournament, Isner captured the event for the second year in a row with a straight-sets win over Dudi Sela of Israel.

4

2015 Atlanta Open title

Having split his previous final-round appearances in Atlanta, Isner came out on top in this rubber match, clinching his third title at the tournament in straight sets over Marcos Baghdatis.

Catch the highlights here.

3

2015 Washington final

Isner’s always played well in Washington—it is the site of his first career final. However, for the third time in his career, he fell short in the title match, this time dropping a three-set match to Kei Nishikori.

2

2016 Atlanta Open final

The American’s bid for a three-peat in Atlanta was thwarted by young Australian Nick Kyrgios, who defeated Isner in straight sets.

1

2017 Atlanta Open title

Isner’s most recent title came just a few weeks ago in Atlanta, when he defeated fellow American Ryan Harrison in the title match.

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