Dallas Open 2023 final: John Isner vs Yibing Wu preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Fixture:(5) John Isner vs Yibing Wu

Date: February 12, 2023

Tournament:Dallas Open

Round: Final

Venue: Dallas, Texas, USA

Surface: Indoor Hardcourt

Prize money: $792,980

Match timing: 1 pm local time, 2 pm ET, 7 pm GMT and 12:30 am IST

John Isner vs Yibing Wu preview

Home favorite John Isner will take on World No. 97 Yibing Wu in the final of the 2023 Dallas Open on Sunday.

Isner kicked off his campaign here against Chun-Hsin Tseng in the first round, edging past him in two tie-breaks. He then knocked out Daniel Altmaier in the second round and Emilio Gomez in the quarterfinals, both in straight sets. The 37-year-old was up against fellow American J.J. Wolf in the semifinals.

A break of serve in the sixth game of the first set was more than enough for Wolf to clinch it. Both players held a few break points throughout the second set, but were unable to convert. It looked like a tie-break was inevitable, but Isner managed to break his opponent's serve in the final game of the set to claim it.

Neither player got a whiff of a break point in the third set as it went into the tie-break. Isner came out on top to complete a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) comeback victory. This marks his first final on hardcourt since winning the Atlanta Open in July 2021.

Wu started off with a three-set win over Michael Mmoh in the opening round. He then stunned third seed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets to make the last eight. The 23-year-old defeated eighth seed Adrian Mannarino in the quarterfinals to set up a showdown with top seed Taylor Fritz in the semifinals.

Wu held a couple of set points on Fritz's serve at 5-4 in the first set, but was unable to close it out. It proved to be costly for him as the American went on to capture the set in the ensuing tie-break.

Both players remained steady on serve for the better part of the second set. Wu managed to secure a break of serve in the 11th game, following which he served out the set to level the proceedings.

Wu bagged an early break in the final set and held on to the lead to win the match 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4. He became the first male player from China to reach a final on the ATP tour.

John Isner vs Yibing Wu head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.

John Isner vs Yibing Wu odds

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

John Isner vs Yibing Wu prediction

Wu was unable to compete for more than two years from March 2019 to December 2021 due to an injury. Upon his return to action last year, he started tearing up the Challenger circuit and even made it to the third round of the US Open. His run at the Dallas Open has been quite remarkable.

Wu is on a giant killing spree, having knocked out players like Shapovalov and Fritz. Against the latter in the semifinals, the 23-year-old smacked 34 winners while committing 13 unforced errors.

After a slow start to the season, Isner finally found his mojo by making the final here. His usual serve helped him out to a great extent in the semifinals as he blasted 31 aces and held his nerve in the tie-break as well.

Wu managed to counter Fritz's serve quite well. However, doing the same against Isner is another challenge. The Chinese has been using his big forehand to paint the lines with some sublime winners. However, the American veteran has it in him to survive a challenge from his younger opponent to emerge victorious.

Pick: John Isner to win in three sets.