Giant man -- and server -- Isner's time is now at Open

At age 22, 6-foot-9½ John Isner is making his U.S. Open debut as a wild card. AP

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NEW YORK -- These are heady times for a 22-year-old whose head stands above nearly everyone at the U.S. Open.

American tennis has never served up anything like John Isner, who is 6-foot-9½ and possesses a serve more evil than Lord Voldemort. On Monday, he toppled No. 26 Jarkko Nieminen behind 34 aces and a steely mien during three tie-breaks.

After beating South Africa's Rik de Voest of South Africa 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday, Isner will meet the brand head and shoulders above everyone in the sport: Roger Federer.

Isner's impressive win over Nieminen in his Grand Slam debut (he was granted a wild card at the Open) follows an eye-opening run in Washington, D.C., earlier this month at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

At that tournament, Isner (pronounced IZ-ner) defeated Tim Henman, Benjamin Becker, Tommy Haas and Gael Monfils before losing to Andy Roddick. He set a Tour record at the tournament with 144 aces, the most in a non-Grand Slam tournament since the ATP began keeping serving records in 1991.

"I'm American, I'm an up-and-comer and people want to see fresh faces," says Isner. "I play a different game and style than most players. And Washington gave me a lot of press and a lot of exposure. People recognize me more. I'm now seeing stuff written about me on ESPN.com and SI.com. It's totally weird. I'm used to seeing my name only on georgiadogs.com."

Those talking him up as the next big thing include Roddick, who once told tennis fan-cum-journalist Elton John in Interview magazine the reason you don't see 7-footers playing tennis was because players need mobility. But Roddick says Isner is a different breed.

"It's going to be tough for Isner not to win tennis matches just because of the way he serves," says Roddick. "He can be playing terribly in every other aspect and still have a chance to win a match just because he's gonna be in service games. That being said, he can do other things out there as well. To come on the tour and win matches and beat good players right away is impressive."

His game is a work in progress. Isner's forehand is bold but spotty (he had 70 unforced errors against Nieminen), and for a man his size, his backhand crawls across the net as if he were driving in a Cul-de sac.

But he moves well and his serve is something to behold. He routinely tops 130 mph on his first serve; his second rarely dips below 120 mph. What confounds opponents is the trajectory. The ball goes straight down. Roddick described it as if someone were spiking a serve.

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