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U.S. OPEN

September 4, 2018

John Isner

New York, NY, USA

J. DEL POTRO/J. Isner

6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A tough three-and-a-half-hour battle out there.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah.

Q. And some play was suspended because of the heat conditions. Just talk about the challenge and also just reflect on this tournament.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's tough conditions out there, no doubt. It's very humid I think just in that center court. Air is pretty still for whatever reason. Maybe it's the roof structure. It's pretty humid and takes its toll on us players, myself, and I think Juan.

But I think all in all, he probably handled it a little bit better. It definitely is tough conditions, but I wish I could have done a little bit better out there. It just wasn't to be. Look, he's so good. It was a tough match.

Q. I think he only hit 14 unforced errors the entire match.
JOHN ISNER: Me? No, I was, like, I probably hit 80.

Q. How tough is it when he's not relenting at all and you both are aggressive, not giving much for free?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, he's so good, and especially when he gets control of the point, of course on his forehand side, he doesn't miss that shot very often, if at all.

You know, he's such a tough player and he's playing well and he likes these conditions. He likes playing on a hard court like this. Yeah, I mean, again, when he gets control of the point, it's very tough to wrest it back from him. Yeah, that's what he does so well, and I think he's exhibited that throughout this whole tournament. He's been playing very well.

Q. You're still in the lineup for the Laver Cup, if I'm not mistaken. There seems to be a bit of a scheduling conflict?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah (smiling). Yeah, so right now I of course committed to it. There's no harm in committing to that event. We'll see what happens. I mean, fortunately it's in America, but we all know what comes first, and that's my daughter and my wife.

We'll see what happens. You know, as of right now, if I can play, great. If I can't, great. We'll see.

Q. It's always hard after a loss, but what do you think you'll take away from your Grand Slam season this year?
JOHN ISNER: No, definitely much better. It's been a bugaboo of mine for the last six years or so.

Didn't start off too great. I mean, I lost in the first round of Australia. My year didn't start off great at all. But I have had a very good year, something that I'm proud of.

But, no, it's definitely something to build on. I'm still trying to build on things and learn from things that my experience at Wimbledon and here, two good results for me, back to back. Hopefully I can play like this more in the future and get back to a stage like this more in the future.

Q. I know you can't speak for him, but it's been a long time since he's won here. He's been a real wrecking ball with a lot of the top guys. What would it take for him to win here? Is there something he needs to do more than he's doing, or is it good enough what he has?
JOHN ISNER: Oh, I think he's doing pretty well. I mean, he's maybe playing some of the best tennis ever right now for him.

I think he knows what he needs to do. He may need to improve a little bit, and he knows that. But I think he's playing very well. As you said, he's given the top guys a lot of trouble before. Rafa at Wimbledon. He beat Roger in the final of this event nine years ago.

You know, he's back in a good spot, competing for a slam title. He's in the final four, so he's certainly got a very good shot.

Q. Would you talk a little bit about your pending fatherhood? Have you gotten any interesting tips from the guys or maybe Serena? And obviously family comes first and foremost, but is there any shot that at the last minute you might be able to go to Croatia?
JOHN ISNER: I mean, very unlikely that I'll be going there. But, no, I mean, this is gonna be life-changing for myself and Maddie and something that we're very excited about. I'm sure I'm going to learn as I go. I'm going to screw up a lot of things at first, and Maddie will probably get mad at me.

No, I mean, right now that this tournament is over, my focus is just getting back home and being with her and seeing everything through. So that's definitely some of the most important days of my life are coming up.

Q. How does it feel to win the 2018 US Open sportsmanship award?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's a great honor. I'm very glad they presented me with that. It's a huge honor. I'm very appreciative of that. I didn't expect it. I didn't expect to receive a trophy after losing in the quarterfinals, but I got that.

That's something that, you know, this sport is tough, so, you know, it's so easy to get very frustrated out there on the court when things aren't going your way. It's a one-on-one sport. You're on an island out there, a lot of people watching you. I guess to keep your cool and be a good sport is very important. It's what, you know, the young kids look up to. So for them to give me that award, I'm very appreciative of that.

Q. Before you play on heat conditions like today, do you weight your balance, see how is your weight and at the end how many pounds have you lost, if you lost any?
JOHN ISNER: No, that's a good question. I can tell you I don't know what I weighed before the match. I did not weigh myself, but I can tell you I lost a lot of weight out there. Sweating like that, I mean, I have practices and stuff where I'm sweating and my shoes are sloshing and I'm changing, so every bit of eight to ten pounds, but it's easy to put back on. Not as bad as it sounds. Eat and drink a lot of water.

Q. You have played here before there was a roof and it's a summer tournament. Humidity, Roger talked about after his defeat having difficulty getting air. Is that the issue?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, look, I don't think that's a normal occurrence. It's been pretty hot here, and it can be -- I don't think, whatever the humidity is on outer courts or in the city, I think it's amplified on center court. It's just we have seen it all tournament long, the girls and the guys out there just sweating a lot.

It's very difficult. It's not so much the heat, because the shade comes over the court, which is pretty nice, but it's the humidity. It's just very difficult to deal with. As you said, you know, I have never seen Roger sweat ever (smiling). If he's sweating a lot and has to change clothes, then you know it's pretty humid out there.

Q. Have you ever read a story about yourself without any mention of your height?
JOHN ISNER: Have I ever read a story?

Q. When they don't say how tall you are.
JOHN ISNER: I can't recall off the top of my head. That's a tough question. I don't know. I haven't thought about that. Maybe you could write a story and not mention it. There you go.

Q. Of course you have more important things on your mind, but you have accumulated a lot of points this year and you're in striking range with the race. Have you sort of thought ahead to maybe after everything happens with your family making a push for that?
JOHN ISNER: Oh, of course. Yeah, that's still a big goal of mine. I think I'm No. 9. Try to get into the top 8 is definitely going to be the goal going forward. You know, when you get to a stage at a tournament like this, you're playing for so much points-wise, so it would have been nice to have won that match, it would have given me a nice boost, but just wasn't to be.

I guess fortunately I lost someone who is ahead in the race, so I've just got to try to sneak in there. We will see if it happens.

Q. I think you and Juan are two of the heaviest guys on tour. I don't know if that makes it tougher. I don't know if you know how many shirts you went through.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, 11.

Q. What were you doing during that break?
JOHN ISNER: I was changing my ankle braces. That takes a long time, because you have to take it off and put the socks on and new ankle braces on.

That's what I did. I just had some water and some towels. I do think -- I mean, I weigh 238 pounds, so I have always said it's pretty difficult to play in hot conditions, for me especially, because I weigh a lot and I sweat a lot. It takes its toll on bigger guys, in my opinion. Whenever I have seen Juan sort of maybe struggle in the heat or on TV and it looks like he's gassed out there, I can always relate.

For us big guys, it is a lot more difficult than someone who is, you know, shorter and doesn't weigh as much.

Q. In light of your receiving the sportsman award, do you stand by your comments on Kaepernick?
JOHN ISNER: I don't see how that has any relevance here, so I really don't appreciate that question.

Q. I think Andy Roddick was the last guy to reach the semis here. Did you hear from him? I know you have been asked about this, but your thoughts on an American winning a slam moving forward?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I did hear from Andy. He had texted me the last -- gosh, I'm forgetting all the matches that I played. He texted me after I won my second round and my last match against Raonic. He's always been a good friend of mine, a very good guy. He doesn't overload me with anything. He just says, "Good job."

I say, "Thanks, Andy." I do know he's always rooting for us players to break through. It has been a very long time, as you mentioned. I guess I came pretty close this year. I don't have many more chances. We will see what happens next year. I think I'm going to be back and competing at these Grand Slams, and we'll have a lot of players on the American men's side still improving with their best tennis yet to come.

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