The more some things have changed, the more others have remained the same for John Isner.
Just 12 months after struggling through qualifying and, ultimately, as far as the Heineken Open quarterfinals, the big-serving American (2.06m) has arrived in Auckland riding the crest of a wave that has since seen him improve 100 ranking spots and directly into the 2010 main draw.
In fact, at No34, he sits just outside the seeds and poised for a real crack at the title.
But his penchant for aces, long matches and tiebreak sets has not altered, if his opening round defeat of Spaniard Guilermo Garcia-Lopez is anything to judge by.
After a slow start, Isner unleashed 11 aces and finally swung momentum back his way in a second-set tiebreak, eventually loping away from his bemused opponent.
"I was happy to get through it," he said. "It's not often I lose my service twice in one set like that, but somewhere in the second set, I started to pick up intensity and played really well in the third set.
"It was huge to get my first tournament win for the year. I'm going to be a lot more relaxed from this point on."
Isner survived three rounds of qualifying in 2009, then two more in the main draw before falling to Swede Robin Soderling 6-4 6-4. His fighting qualities certainly endeared him local fans - four of his six matches went to three sets and seven of his 16 sets were decided by tiebreakers.
"Last year, I won five really tough matches," he observed. "If I can do that this year, I will have made it to the final."
Isner finished 2009 with a 27-18 winning record on the ATP Tour and 27-12 in tiebreaks. He was also among tour leaders in aces (653), service games won (89%) and second-serve points won (56%).
His breakthrough performance at last year's Heineken really set Isner up well for the rest of the year, although he was stalled by a bout of mononucleosis (like glandular fever) just before the French Open. He bounced back to reach the semifinals at Indianapolis in July, then defeated world No7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France on the way to the semis in Washington two weeks later.
Victory over former world No2 Tommy Haas in Cincinnati set Isner up for his biggest win of the year - a thrilling 7-6(3) 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6(5) five-setter over former champion Andy Roddick en route to the US Open fourth round.
"I really had a lot of fun here last year," said Isner. "I obviously played fairly well and thought I'd come back to give it another shot."
He will now meet another Spaniard, seventh seed Juan Monaco, in the second round. Monaco easily accounted for Argentine Horacio Zeballos in his opening appearance.
"I'll have to take my chances against him," said Isner. "He's real consistent and so tough from the baseline.
"I'm going to make some mistakes than him, but maybe I'll hit more winners than him as well."
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