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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2016

John Isner

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

J. ISNER/J. Janowicz

6-3, 7-6, 6-3

-THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just precautionary? (Referring to his wrapped arm).
JOHN ISNER: No, yeah, I'm good.

Q. Were you pleased with that? Three sets against him to start, at least on paper, looks pretty good.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I am pleased with it. It's a tough first round, for sure. I mean, given his credentials, you know, he's a big player. He was hitting some big serves out there.

I stayed composed in that second set tiebreaker. It was very critical. I was able to get that one under my belt, win the third set pretty easy. Three sets, not that long out there. I'm very happy.

Q. Last year at this time, we could talk NFL. Tim Smyczek talked about what he learned from Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. You've been following the Panthers. Talk about them breaking through.
JOHN ISNER: Still got two more to go. I love 'em, so it's fun for me to watch them do it. I've sort of taken on their mantra of 'keep pounding.' I'm going to try to make that my theme this year. That's what they always say.

They've had a great year and are still going.

Q. Do you think Cam, going a different direction, could have been a good tennis player?
JOHN ISNER: He could do whatever he wants. He's the best athlete I've ever seen. The guy is ripped. He's tall. He runs so fast.

Lucky that we have him on our team.

Q. On the NFL front, we're going to have an AFC championship with a 39-year-old quarterback and a 38-year-old quarterback. What are the challenges in tennis to still keep performing into your 30s?
JOHN ISNER: I think the challenges are it's just taking care of your body. There's been so many advances in strength training, rehab, and recovery. Guys are much more sharp about their diet.

If you take care of all those things, there's no reason, you know, I think you can't play into your mid 30s. You've seen that. The landscape of tennis has changed. I mean, I think there's 30 something, players over 30 in the top 100. It's never been like that.

So the challenges, yeah, for me I don't wake up maybe as spry as I used to in years past. As long as I warm up properly, cool down properly, work hard and work smart, I feel like I can play for a lot more years. I'm doing all the right things.

Q. Do you also think, because they're on teams and are surrounded by teammates, that helps?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah. I think it's a position thing, as well. Quarterbacks, especially today, they can't really get hit too hard. Can play into their mid 30s, late 30s. Same thing with linebackers.

You're not going to see a runningback at 36 years old, that's for sure.

But, yeah, being on a team, those guys, Brady and Manning, are so good at getting rid of the ball. Really their movement is within the pocket and keeping their arm strong. Brady hadn't slowed down at all. He's not going to beat you with his legs. His arm is still as strong as ever.

Q. Where are you physically? How do you feel coming into 2016?
JOHN ISNER: It was a pretty good off-season. I did my thing. I'm not going to say I crushed it this off-season (smiling).

I took care of myself. I worked hard. I worked smart. Just taking care of myself. I feel good.

Q. Pete Sampras just wrote pretty interesting article in which he wrote a letter to himself as a teenager giving himself some tips. If you could write yourself a little note when you were a teenager, young player, what would you say?
JOHN ISNER: Oh, no, nothing. I think I did it all right (laughter).

No, I don't know. I mean, when I was a teenager I didn't even take tennis seriously, which actually honestly might have been a good thing for, me because I started taking it very seriously around 20 years old in college.

Certainly could have worked harder in the juniors, for sure. But I think I learned from my mistakes. I realized eventually what it takes to play at a high level. I realized what it takes to play at a high level in college, and now I know what it takes to do that here on the Pro Tour.

Q. Looking ahead, presuming you'll be healthy to come on the Davis Cup team, what will it be like to play here and face Lleyton?
JOHN ISNER: I guess he's going to be the captain. He could play, potentially, but this will be his swan song.

It will be interesting. It's not the easiest of travel schedules, you know, considering my next events after this, I'm going to South America to play on clay.

I'll come back to the States for a bit, fly back over here, then you go to Indian Wells. But it's Davis Cup. That's what it entails sometimes. We get treated so well on the team. Everything is taken care of for us. We'll be put up in nice accommodations.

It will be nice to play against Australia here in Melbourne on grass. They have some crazy fans. It will be a lot of fun.

Q. Talk about Lleyton being a captain.
JOHN ISNER: It makes sense. I mean, he gave it everything he had for Davis Cup whenever he was healthy and able. He's one of the most respected guys on tour. I mean, he's still playing. I have the utmost respect for him, as well.

It makes sense that he would captain their Davis Cup team. I think everyone looks up to him.

Q. You mentioned playing in South America. I saw you're on the Buenos Aires. Not a place where we usually see you pop up in the world. What was your thinking on doing that?
JOHN ISNER: I don't mind clay. I thought it would be fun, you know. I only get one go at this. It will be interesting.

The good thing is, there's really no time change. Maybe a longer flight, for sure. But I'll play there and I'll also play in Brazil. I'm looking forward to it. I've never done it. Something new.

From the looks of things, I think the people there are excited I'm coming. I'll be excited to be going there.

Q. I guess you're missing Memphis, Delray?
JOHN ISNER: Uh-huh. I won't be playing those because those are concurrent weeks.

Q. Easy to skip those?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, for sure. I think if you look at my results in Memphis, outside of one year, haven't been great. Same with Delray.

Change it up a bit. When I go home to Florida I don't have to leave my neighborhood. I can take my golf cart to practice on the clay court. I like that. So I'll do that after this tournament.

Q. A big one here yesterday for Noah Rubin, and also an impressive effort from Taylor Fritz. What do you know of those two guys?
JOHN ISNER: I mean, I know them. Taylor has had an incredible run. I think I read somewhere he's defending 30 points until like October or something, so he's got a lot of room to improve for sure.

I think he's separated himself, as of right now, of all those young crop of Americans. He did a great job qualifying. I know he was down 4-0 in the final set. Very impressive. But he's got a tough match today. It will be interesting to see his growth and development. He's certainly on the right track.

As for Noah, I don't know too much about him. Smaller in stature for sure. Taylor may have a little bit more weaponry. But Noah had a good win yesterday, for sure.

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