By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Earlier this year, I posted an column comparing the tennis careers of the greatest tennis players ever from the University of Georgia – Mikael Pernfors and John Isner.
The great Georgia Bulldog media personality Jeff Dantzler called the decision deciding between which Bulldog was greater as the Georgia Bulldog “Sophie’s Choice” – you can’t choose between these two just like you can’t choose between your two children.
The article below was written before the French Open but I’ve updated it when the results of Isner’s last three major championships as he has equaled and bettered his previous results from those three events.
John Isner’s signature win at the 2018 Miami Open has brought up an interesting discussion in the world of tennis – who is the greater Georgia Bulldog tennis player, John Isner or Mikael Pernfors?
Both players honed their skills as college players in Athens, Georgia and were both four-year collegians. Pernfors was a Bulldog in 1984 and 1985 after two years at Seminole Junior College. Isner played all four years in Athens from 2004 to 2007.
With his win in Miami, Isner jumped to a career-high equaling No. 9 ATP singles ranking at the time. This is one spot better than the career-high ranking that Pernfors achieved in his career, which was No. 10 in September of 1986. (Isner’s new career high ranking peaked at No. 8 following Wimbledon in 2018).
Isner’s win in Miami also marked his 13th career ATP singles title, which is more than four times as many singles title as Pernfors won in his career, which was three. Isner followed his win in Miami with a win in Atlanta in July, his 14th career ATP singles title. Isner’s Miami win marked the first time he won a title that was bigger than the “250” level on the ATP World Tour, which is the lowest-level of tournaments on the ATP Tour. The Miami Open and the BNP Paribas Open are seen as the biggest events in tennis other than the Grand Slams. Of the three titles that Pernfors won, the biggest was the Canadian Championships in Montreal in 1993, which is on the same “Masters Series” level as the Miami Open. His other two titles came in Los Angeles in 1988 (a prestigious event at the time, a 500-level event, where he beat Andre Agassi in the final) and in Scottsdale, Arizona, a 250-level event.
While Isner achieved a higher-ranking and won more titles than Pernfors, when you compare their performances at Grand Slam events – where a player’s career is largely defined – Pernfors has a significant edge. Just one year after leaving Georgia, Pernfors had his signature run of his career at the 1986 French Open where, as an unseeded player, he beat Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Henri Leconte en route to the final, where he lost to Ivan Lendl. Pernfors also reached at least the fourth round in the other three major championships, including a quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open in 1990. By comparison, Isner’s best Grand Slam showing was his semifinal finish at Wimbledon, where he lost 26-24 in the fifth set to Kevin Anderson. His previous best showing at Wimbledon was the third round three times. He also reached the fourth rounds of the Australian twice, the French Opens three times and the quarterfinals twice at the U.S. Open – in 2011 and in 2018, entering his match with Juan Martin del Potro.
In Davis Cup play, Pernfors led his native Sweden to the Davis Cup final in 1986, where it lost to Australia. Isner has been a stalwart on the U.S. Davis Cup team, but has yet to lead his team into a final.
While at Georgia, Pernfors won back-to-back NCAA singles titles in 1984 and 1985 after arriving in Athens after two years at Seminole Junior College. As a senior, he won 42 straight matches and led Georgia to its first NCAA team title. Unlike Pernfors, Isner was at Georgia all four years and thus has the all-time school record as far as match wins, with a 283-53 career record (143-28 in singles, 140-25 in doubles). He played No. 1 singles on the undefeated 2007 NCAA team championship team (Georgia beat Illinois 4-0 in the NCAA final, Isner beating Kevin Anderson 6-1, 7-6 at No. 1 singles). However, Isner did not net an NCAA singles title, falling in the 2007 NCAA final to Somdev Dewarman of Virginia 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(2). He did win the 2005 NCAA doubles title and was the 2004 NCAA doubles runner-up.
Pernfors cracked into the top 100 of the ATP rankings nine months after leaving Athens and just over a year after leaving college, had his run to the French Open final. Isner also took nine months to crack into the top 100 and also had a run to a final early in his pro career, reaching the ATP final in Washington, D.C. in 2007 as a wild card, winning all five of his matches in final-set tiebreakers (moving his ranking from No. 416 to No. 193).
Pernfors was playing his best tennis at the age of 22 to 26 as a steady top 30 player after achieving his career high of No. 10 at age 23. He was ranked in top 100 until 1990 before injuries started to take a greater toll at age 27. He returned to the top 100 in 1993 at age 30, moving back to No 27 in the world, before injuries again got the best of him and him eventually falling off the ATP rankings in 1999 at the age of 36.
Isner won his signature title in Miami 11 years after finishing at Georgia and has been ranked in the top 100 every week since 2009, maintaining a top 50 ranking for most of the stretch. He first reached his career high ranking of No. 9 in 2012 and then again in 2014 before vaulting back to the ranking after his win in Miami.
In another interesting comparison between Isner and Pernfors is the 6-foot-10 Isner is one foot and two inches taller than the 5-foot-8 Pernfors.
Randy Walker was a walk-on member of 1988 and 1989 SEC Championship Georgia Bulldog tennis teams. His career record at Georgia was 0-7 (0-2 in singles, 0-5 in doubles) making he and current UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity (0-1) as the only two Georgia men’s tennis players to play and not win a match.
