One of the most curious stories of the Masters 1,000 in Rome is starring these days John Isner and Diego Schwartzman. They had never paired up in doubles until they decided to try their luck in the Italian tournament and it has gone wonderfully, because this Sunday (14:00) they will play the final against the winner of the duel between the Croatians Mektic and Pavic and the Italians Bolelli and Fognini.
To achieve this, they have lowered, among others, the former number one in the world, the Colombians Cabal and Farah, and in the semifinals they beat two specialists like the Kazakh Golubev and the Argentinian González 6-4, 4-6 and 11-9. What is striking about their association is the enormous difference in height between the two. Isner measures 2.08 and Schwartzman, officially 1.70. So they are separated by 38 centimeters. They get along well because John is a great server and Diego is one of the most skilled and fastest tennis players in the tournament. Also, they both volley very well.
Little does it matter to them to arouse a certain astonishment in the spectators when they see them together. In fact, it would seem that they exploit this circumstance, and even has a team name #Isnerman. After beating Golubev and González they took a photo jokingly with a sign that reads that hastag. Now they could be probably the biggest doubles champion couple in history. In Spain they could be called the Duo Pencil Sharpenerremembering that famous couple of comedians who also stood out for the contrast of their heights.
different profiles
Isner could be considered a doubles specialist, because in his beginnings he played a lot with his compatriot Sam Querrey and has won eight titles, two this year with Sock (Indian Wells) and Hurkacz (Miami). Along with Feliciano López, he was a finalist in Acapulco in 2017. And he has also played with Hach Verdugo and Mardy Fish, among others. Schwartzmann He has teamed up with González, Evans, Molteni, Harris, Delbonis and Fognini, for example, more sporadically. In 2019 he played the finals in Buenos Aires and Madrid with Thiem.