Is Cristian Garin getting back to his best?

Cristian Garin is having the best season of his career, despite struggling with an elbow injury earlier in the year. The agony of the injury became so excruciating during the South American clay stretch that he even publicly discussed quitting tennis.

Despite this, he played some fantastic tennis this week to reach the semifinals in Houston. The semifinals started well for him, as he served with the same confidence and dominance as his opponent, John Isner. He began to play even better at the end of the set, gaining a 5-3 lead and nearly closing it with another break. Isner held for 5-4, but Garin took the match 6-4.

Isner successfully targeted Garin in the second set and broke him once for a 6-4 victory. Isner’s serve slowed a little in the third set, but it was still excellent enough to get the job done. Garin had a good game, but one terrible game that followed cost him the match.