The defending Miami Open champion John Isner is one win away from the second consecutive crown in Florida, prevailing against an 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6, 7-6 in an hour and 53 minutes to advance into his fifth Masters 1000 final. The young Canadian qualified for the main draw and won five matches there to become the youngest Masters 1000 semi-finalist ahead of Denis Shapovalov, Michael Chang and Rafael Nadal, also passing the Spaniard as the youngest semi-finalist in Miami history. There was a massive chance for Felix to go even further, scoring a break in each set and serving for both, only to get broken in the worst possible moments and fall in tie breaks to propel John into the title match. Isner is yet to lose a set in Miami, winning nine out of ten in the tie break to show tremendous mental strength, something he will need against Roger Federer or Denis Shapovalov in the deciding match as well. The American dominated with serve, blasting 21 aces and getting out of trouble many times with the initial shot to survive until the tie breaks, finishing the match with 32 aces and 23 unforced errors. Auger-Aliassime couldn't forge more significant advantage in the longer points, failing to return 35% of John's serves and losing focus in the pivotal moments to end his run in the semi-final. The Canadian got broken twice from four opportunities offered to the better-ranked opponent, squandering four out of six chances on the return, spoiling everything he has been working on during the match with two careless service games but leaving Miami with positive vibes after all. John delivered three aces in the fifth game to erase three break points before Felix broke him at love at 3-3 to gain a significant lead. The youngster was cruising through his service games until the crucial one when he served for the opener at 5-4. Out of sudden, he hit three double faults to bring John back to the positive side of the scoreboard, ruining his chance and dropping the tie break 7-3 after four mini-breaks he gave to John who started to celebrate when Auger-Aliassime sent a forehand long in the tenth point. Still fighting hard, Felix broke in the sixth game of the second set after a loose forehand from Isner, forging a 4-2 advantage and looking good to send the match into a decider. Instead of that, the American broke back in the very last moment at 3-5 following a terrible drive-volley from the youngster, extending the set and becoming the favorite to prevail in straight sets now. John endured another more extended rally at the beginning of the tie break to grab a mini-break and that was all he needed to seal the deal, blasting five service winners in a row for a 7-4 and the place in the title match.<doc-sep>John Isner previewed the upcoming final against Roger Federer at the Miami Open. After his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, the American player said: "That would be awesome for me. Any time you play against him would be, in a big stage, a tournament like this would be amazing. I played him in the finals of Indian Wells about seven years ago, I think. He beat me there. It would be really cool to play against him. I'm not rooting for anyone tonight. It's going to be tough either way. But certainly playing Roger would be a very big moment." Isner also commented on the Miami Open taking place at the Hard Rock Stadium for the first time: "There is something to be said about having success at a tournament. I mean, look, I have played Atlanta a bunch. I have won that tournament a bunch. I'm just very comfortable there. Here, it's a little bit different because it's a different venue. It's a completely different feel from last year, obviously. But as you said, knowing that I won this event last year, I really took the approach coming into this year that there is zero pressure at all to defend this title. And I said in the press before the tournament that chances are I'm not going to defend it, because I have only won one of these in my whole career, and I have probably played a hundred of them. But now I'm one match away, so hopefully, I can eat those words. I have been doing it so far. And as for the tiebreak situation, I mean, of course, I have been in that moment a lot throughout my career. It's not so much energy -- I mean, I try hard throughout the whole match. I'm not really saving myself for the tiebreaker. I'm trying not to win sets in a tiebreaker. Today was a little bit different way of getting there with my opponent serving for each set. But once I got each set back on serve today, I felt very confident that if it continued on into a tiebreaker, that I would have a chance to win."<doc-sep>
Both semifinals of the 2019 Miami Open men's tournament pit youth against experience, and in Friday's matinee, it was the veteran guile of John Isner that prevailed 7-6(3), 7-6(4) over up-and-comer Felix Auger-Aliassime. Isner, the hard-serving, 6-10 American in his 13th year on the ATP Tour who also happens to be the defending champion in Miami, had to use every bit of his vast experience to topple the Canadian, 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime. The youngster, playing in his eighth match in Miami, was quick out of the gates and proved a tall test for his 33-year-old opponent. SIGN UP with DAZN to watch the WTA Miami Open LIVE and ON DEMAND While both sets required tiebreaks, Auger-Aliassime twice built up big leads that should have led to victories for the Montreal native. In the first set, Auger-Aliassime jumped out to a 5-3 advantage before Isner battled back to force the tiebreak and eventually win the set. A Champion's Response 👏 🇺🇸 @JohnIsner rallies from 3-5 down to grab the opening set 7-6(3) against Felix Auger-Aliassime. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/TQnLlSjU9d — ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) March 29, 2019 It was the same story in the second set, with Auger-Aliassime actually building a 5-2 lead before succumbing to a big comeback from Isner. Auger-Aliassime could be seen talking to himself as the match slipped away, visibly frustrated that he could not clinch either set despite holding large leads. In the end, both the statistics and the run of play favoured Isner, who out-aced Auger-Aliassime 21-6 and held a 30-25 edge in receiving points won. Let’s hear it for @felixtennis 👏 It’s been a brilliant @MiamiOpen for the 18 year old 🙌 pic.twitter.com/rv04ExtO89 — ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) March 29, 2019 Auger-Aliassime leaves Miami as the youngest semifinalist in tournament history.