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MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAÃº

March 27, 2018

John Isner

Miami, Florida

J. ISNER/M. Cilic

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You never faced a break point. 73% first-serve percentage. Things are going well with that serve.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I was in a very good serving rhythm today. I felt that really from my opening serve the whole match that I knew it was going to be a good serving day.

I just was in a good rhythm and served much better than I did in my first two matches. I mean, percentage and aces and no double faults today. When I serve like that, I'm certainly tough to beat.

Q. The wind didn't bother you at all? Seemed like it was pretty brisk.
JOHN ISNER: No. As I said, I was in a good rhythm. My toss was in the right place.

It was windy, yes, but it wasn't humid or anything like that. It wasn't oppressive conditions like it can be down here, so I welcomed that. It was good conditions. I enjoyed it out there.

Q. You struggled a little bit earlier in the year and you seem to be picking it up now. What's been going on with you form-wise?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I just -- you know, this has actually been sort of a trend. The last three years I have started really slow. And I think I probably mostly attribute it to, you know, maybe putting a little bit too much pressure on myself.

Of course you want to get off to a good start, but if you overthink it like that, it's not going to happen. You've just got to let things flow and come.

So just staying patient and, you know, trying to stay as relaxed as I can on the court. You know, I want to walk off the court, win or lose, being happy with how I was composed on the court.

You know, there have been some times where I've gotten too frustrated on the court, and that cost me the match. When you walk off the court as a loser in a situation like that, it's not a good feeling, so I'm trying to eliminate that.

Q. You're with a group of guys -- Kei, Milos, Grigor, who had a bit of a breakthrough -- who have been sort of right there beneath the very top guys. Now you have a bunch of younger guys, like the guy you're playing next, pushing. How big a threat are these guys both to your position and ultimately to...
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, a very big threat, for sure. A guy like Chung, he's coming. His ranking hasn't even caught up with the results he's had this year. He's only going to go up. Very good chance he gets to the top 10 somewhat soon.

These guys are good. The tour promotes it. But they are the NextGen. Obviously Sascha is leading that crew. But you see a guy like Hyeon, and Coric is playing well. These guys are very, very talented.

It's a good thing for the sport. I think that it's a good crop of players coming.

Q. Obviously Roger and Dimitrov are out, and now you took care of Cilic and everything. Would you say this is a tournament with opportunities, or have you learned that just because those guys are out you can't, like, really have that thought?
JOHN ISNER: No, you definitely can't have that. I mean, you think about that too much, things won't really go your way. Like The Masters Series event in Paris last year, I was the highest-rank person left in the semifinals, and I didn't win it (smiling).

Everyone is so good. You throw rankings out the window, really. So many good players here.

But it's a bit unusual, for sure, that I think the top three seeds are all out. So it's an opportunity for a lot of players, but we'll see what happens.

Q. Just something off-the-court. Obviously you got married in December. Any difference in life or your tennis or...
JOHN ISNER: No, not much different. I have moved to Dallas, so I guess that is different. But, you know, as far as my relationship with -- we have been dating, we were dating for a long time and just engaged a short time, so, you know, we're married and that was an incredible step.

So comfortable with each other and very happy. I'm just happy I can actually play in my wedding ring. I know a lot of players can't because it bothers them. Doesn't bother me at all, so I don't even feel it. I think that's pretty cool.

Q. Is she from Dallas or have work there?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, she's from Dallas, yeah.

Q. Is she traveling or she works?
JOHN ISNER: Well, she works. She's not here. She travels sometimes, but most of the time she -- I would say 30, 40% of the time she's with me, but more times than not she's away, which I think is healthy.

Q. Fifth tiebreak you've won 7-0. That must feel pretty good.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, for sure. I got up 1-0 on his serve, and two serves of mine, I'm up 3-0, and at that point I told myself, I'm in the driver's seat. I've got to keep swinging and keep continuing to swing.

In the blink of an eye I was up 5-0 and I was able to win it 7-0, a very good tiebreaker, because prior to that the match was a bit choppy. Neither one of us were making too many balls. The wind was of course tricky, and it was pretty ugly, but I played a very good tiebreaker.

Q. You have never won a Masters 1000, but you have made a ton of semis and made a couple finals and a lot of quarters. Obviously you play well in the States, but the Masters 1000s in general -- you played well in Bercy, as well. Do you get up for these tournaments, or what's the key for you to make deep runs all the time here?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I think in these events, the format is very good for me, you know, two-out-of-three sets. In a situation like that, if I'm feeling fit and healthy, which I am, and serving like I did today, I can beat a lot of people playing like that.

I have had a lot of success in these Masters events and haven't broken through, as you said, but it's so tough. I have made three finals and I've played Roger, Rafa, and Andy Murray. It's a tough thing to do to win one of these. Del Potro just won his first last week.

But look, I'm very happy to be back in the quarterfinals, especially because I was playing pretty terribly prior to this tournament.

Q. Did you have an opportunity to meet with some of the Stoneman Douglas kids the other night?
JOHN ISNER: Yes.

Q. Talk about why you wanted to do that, how impressed you were with them, et cetera.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah. Well, I came back over to the site. I think that was a day off of mine or something. I came back over to the site to participate in the on-court ceremony, but the match was going so long, so I had to leave to go grab dinner.

But I was able to speak to both teams, which was very cool. I thought everyone on the girls team, guys team, they were so nice. One of the players on the boys team, he was the one that organized their march down here, actually. He was their organizer.

What those kids are doing right now is pretty impressive, and they are turning a horrible tragedy into something pretty positive, it seems.

It was great to meet them. I know they got to meet a lot of players, as well. So to have them here, it was very, very cool.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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