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NITTO ATP FINALS

November 14, 2018

John Isner

London, England, United Kingdom

M. CILIC/J. Isner

6-7, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. We have seen your Instagram posting. When did you find out about Kyle? How difficult was it to play the match, given the circumstances?
JOHN ISNER: Found out two nights ago after I lost to Novak. But, yeah, it's difficult, very difficult. Got to go out there and play.

Q. The first one and a half sets you were holding dominantly. After that, he was in every one of your service games. What was the difference there?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I think he just started seeing the ball better. Maybe I tipped some of my pitches, something. But, yeah, he started getting on me a lot there.

Q. Returning to your friend who died, you wrote in your Instagram post that he was kind of a strength coach to you, had a huge impact on your career. Could you detail your relationship from those early days, what he did to help you.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, when I left college, I worked out exclusively with Kyle for probably seven years. I mean, that's four, five times a week for seven years. We lived together, as well.

Certainly very close. It's devastating not just for me, but for a whole bunch of people. He was a fantastic guy.

Q. You've lost two matches, but still you're kind of a straight-set win away from advancing, if Novak beats Cilic. Is that kind of weird?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's very weird, to think I've lost twice but still have a shot. I guess that's the advantage of having a guy like Novak in your group.

I guess I have an objective, for sure. We'll see if I can do it. It's going to be very tough, no doubt. I'll try on Friday. I play during the day, which is nice, not playing another night match. But we'll see.

Q. You had a lot of support in the arena tonight. How have you found the atmosphere here?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, no, the atmosphere, as I said after my first match, is incredible. It's no wonder that everyone tries so hard throughout the year to make this event.

It was an amazing atmosphere first match, and tonight as well. I had some good support, I feel like. Hopefully I can get that again on Friday as I'm still mathematically alive.

Q. Because you were called up quite late for the tournament, were you a bit under-cooked because you had switched off?
JOHN ISNER: No, I don't think so. Played a lot of tennis. I really think even if I knew I was in this tournament, I probably would have gone home, as well. No, I don't think that's the case at all.

Q. Slightly off topic. The Australian Open is just a couple of months away. We usually have the issues every year with people talking about the court named Margaret Court arena, homophobia. On that topic, how do you think the male locker room would react to a player coming out?
JOHN ISNER: If that were to happen, I think they'd be very welcoming. I have no doubts about that. I think I can speak for a majority of the players, that would be no issue at all. It has no bearing on anything whatsoever. End of the day, you're trying to beat your opponent on the court and everything else doesn't matter at all.

I think if that were to happen, it wouldn't matter to me and to most players.

Q. Some thoughts about facing Sascha Zverev?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, everyone knows how good he is. We've played quite a few times, as well. It will be a very tough match. There are definitely some things I need to improve. I'll try to do that and implement them on Friday.

But he does so much well. He serves very well, his groundstrokes are incredible. He's a very tough out. There's no slouches in this tournament, as I'm seeing out there (smiling).

This isn't your everyday tournament. It will be very tough. But I'm going to come out fired up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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