WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 23, 2020

John Isner

Press Conference

J. ISNER/H. Hurkacz

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did it feel out there? It was obviously very difficult to get any sort of atmosphere, I'd say.

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I'm used to -- I have played on that court before, Grandstand court of course at the US Open. It's been a great court to play on because the atmosphere has been amazing.

We don't have that right now. No sports have that. So you sort of just gotta rely on yourself to pump yourself up, to give yourself a lot of adrenaline. And, look, I just think we have been off for six months now, and the guys are just happy to be back on the court. Of course we want to win. We're just happy to be back competing. I think that takes over from the fact that there is no one in the stands.

Q. Obviously every match going into a major is important to get a feel, but when you look at the situation, the conditions that are around at the moment, do these matches take a bit more importance on going into the US Open? I know obviously your focus is on this week and it's a big tournament, but there's the other prize that's down the road.

JOHN ISNER: Yeah. Well, this tournament is very important. I mean, of course we have never had a Masters 1000 event the week before a slam, but 2020, as we all know, has been very different and you have to make decisions on the go, and this is what we are dealing with right now.

I shouldn't say "dealing with." This is what our situation is. Guys want to do well in this event, but as you mentioned, you try to get some matches under your belt. No one has that. Yeah, some of us have played some exhibitions here and there over the last six months, but we haven't had that real-life ATP match play.

It's real important to try and get at least a few wins under your belt to get yourself feeling pretty confident ahead of the big one next week.

Q. Any nerves going into the match?

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, there's always nerves going into the match, you know, but I just told myself, Look, I'm playing a very good player. There is a very good chance I could lose this match. I just want to go out there and on the big points swing away. And that's what I did very well today.

If I lost that match today, I would be just as happy as I am right now, sitting here the winner. So that was the mentality I took, and I think it paid off.

You never really know what to expect. Obviously I have been working hard on the court, in the gym, but I could go out there and play terrible. Luckily, that wasn't the case today.

Q. A lot of players like to eat in the city during their trips to New York. I'm just wondering what your go-to option has been during your time in the bubble or if you've brought any food supplies with you for this trip?

JOHN ISNER: Well, that's not an option, obviously. You could argue the greatest food in the world is in Manhattan, but, you know, it's been a lot of Uber Eats. I was able to get Capital Grille picked up for us last night, which was very good. So we are trying to mix things up and not try the same restaurant too many times so it doesn't get stale.

Look, it hasn't been at all bad. Can't complain at all. The USTA and ATP have done an incredible job of putting on this event and keeping us players comfortable in the bubble.

It's definitely not what we're used to. I would certainly prefer to walk the streets of Manhattan and go find a nice restaurant to eat at, but all in all, it's not bad at all.

Q. What are your goals for this run in New York? Do you view this as a real opportunity to make a run at the US Open title?

JOHN ISNER: No. I mean, I haven't -- I mean, odds would say that I'm probably not going to win the US Open. I have never really come close to winning that tournament.

Performance goals, I don't have any for this event and for the US Open. I just want to go out there and to compete as best as I possibly can and see where I end up from doing that. So I'll be happy with any result, really. That's the mentality I'm taking. If I don't do well at the US Open, I get to go back home to my family, and it's not all bad.

For me, I just know that I have put in the work, so I have confidence in the fact that I have been working hard the last six months. I think I'm in pretty good shape right now, and I know I can do some damage. But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.

Q. How do you approach majors, at least mentally or maybe physically too now, compared to like five, six, seven years ago?

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, well, I mean, I'm definitely older now. I'm 35. My body, I still feel good, but it definitely doesn't respond maybe as quick as it did seven, eight years ago when I was in my 20s.

So a lot of rest, a lot of recovery, eating healthy, a lot of hydration. I have always been very good at that, but it takes the utmost importance now at 35.

I have a good team with me to keep me fit and keep me in good shape. You know, as I said, it doesn't get easier. I guess it also is important for me to not try to get these long, drawn-out matches. I can't guarantee that I won't, but today was a good match for me in the sense that it was over in two sets in hot conditions, which is what I needed.

Q. I'm curious, with this existing in a vacuum, does it feel like you have kind of home-court advantage? Does it still feel like you have a comfort level being in the U.S. that you wouldn't have somewhere else?

JOHN ISNER: I actually do feel like I have a home-court advantage, because this is a site that I'm very, very familiar with. I love the courts here. I love playing in these big stadiums. I love playing on that Grandstand court.

Tomorrow I will be playing on a court I have never played on before. It looks really cool on TV. I have always actually wanted to play a match out there, because it's a great atmosphere in normal times.

So tomorrow is going to be a little different challenge to me, as I have never played on that court before. But, look, I love hard courts. I love playing in the summertime, and I'm in the United States. So I do feel like even though there is no crowd here, I do have a home-court advantage.

Q. How do you feel about the sort of physical challenge that's going to be -- I'm assuming you're planning on playing in Europe after this? The physical challenge playing a Masters event before a Grand Slam and turning around if you're going to Rome, another Masters event the day after that, and another Grand Slam basically six days later? That's pretty unprecedented for the schedule. So what do you think that slate and how guys are going to be able to hold up and if there is going to be anything -- it's a pretty tall task right now.

JOHN ISNER: It is a tall task. This is the hand we have been dealt. It's not what we are accustomed to, there is no doubt, but I think all of us on the guys' side and on the women's side, we're taking a lot of pride in the fact that it is going to be a big challenge.

So that's the way I'm looking at it, as well. We are all very fit, in my opinion. We all feel like we're up to the challenge, as well.

Look, it's not normal times, but this is what we are dealing with. I think, for me in particular, I'm looking at it as a challenge to test myself physically, and hopefully I hold up very well.

I would think that a lot of the other players in this event in the US Open would say the same thing.

Q. Grigor was in here earlier. He was talking about some of the lingering health effects from having to battle COVID. Curious if you have talked to him at all or if other guys know what it's been like for athletes having the tougher physical task of still having effects of this and whatever different versions that people get?

JOHN ISNER: No, I haven't spoken -- I spoke to Grigor but not about anything like that. Frances seems to have recovered pretty well. Novak has recovered pretty well.

It treats everyone differently. We know that much. Grigor is one of the healthiest guys around. It really sort of kicked his ass there for a little bit.

He seems to be recovering. I think he won today. It's just maybe taken him a little bit longer. No, I haven't spoken to Grigor. I do know that Frances and Novak maybe recovered quicker than he did.

Q. If I have it right, you spent a fair amount of the down time in Dallas. Sometimes things were not so good there. Sometimes pretty good. Then some tough times. Just talk about the experience there and dealing with the COVID.

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, everyone -- every part of the country has dealt with it differently. There were some, I guess a lot of cases in Texas, but seems the state is doing better. Seems the state of Florida is doing better, also.

It was weird times, for sure, initially when everything was shut down. But once things started opening back up, and rightly so, in my opinion, I think people in Dallas were taking a lot of precautions.

The people of Dallas I think enjoy the fact that things are starting to get back rolling slowly but surely. So it's going to -- it may take a little bit longer, but this thing will get defeated eventually.

But look, for me in Dallas, as I said, early on it was very, very weird. But once things started to open up, it seemed to start to get a little bit more normal, everyone taking the right precaution. Hopefully we're on the other side of it.

Q. This time has been so different from each year where you're on the circuit and doing all the travel. Do you think there was anything you sort of learned or just realized about yourself during this time?

JOHN ISNER: No. I mean, I was just happy about the time I was able to spend at home.

I never, ever one time lamented the fact that I wasn't playing tennis as my job, because I have always realized how lucky I am to do that. There was a lot of people out there that have it a lot worse than I do. I have always looked at it that way.

I considered myself extremely, extremely lucky to be safe at home with my family where a lot of people in our country did not have that luxury. I definitely have been very blessed through all this.