MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 6, 2021

John Isner

Press Conference

J. ISNER/A. Rublev

7-6, 3-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You've made it through tough three-setters. How do you feel physically, mentally? You're averaging more than 30 aces for match. Going well?

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, no, for sure. I've always served well here. The conditions for my serve are fantastic. Physically, you know, I was a little bit heavy-legged today. I finished late last night, pretty late. I went to bed pretty late after dinner, treatment, whatnot. The good thing is that I finished a bit earlier today, I should be able to get to bed at a decent time, get a good night's sleep, be ready to go tomorrow.

I'm going to need every bit of my legs tomorrow against Dominic. I'm looking forward to it, for sure.

Q. You described the court almost as an indoor court. Is this your favorite clay court? What is it about it that suits you so well?

JOHN ISNER: Yes, it is my favorite clay court probably. That court that I played all my matches on, it has an indoor feel even though it's not I guess fully indoors. It's got a great sound to it. The court is fast. To me doesn't seem like there's too much clay on the court, so it kind of plays, of all the clay courts I play on, plays closest to a hard court of any of them.

The altitude in Madrid just really helps my serve. The ball goes through the air very fast. You put all those things together, it's a good recipe for me to do some damage on serve.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about Andrey, what impressed you about him, more what you had to do? Second to that, can you also talk a little bit about missing the Australian Open, how much pressure does that put upon you going into Roland Garros?

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, well, the first part of your question, I mean, I played him a long, long time ago in Miami when he was super young. I knew he had a bright future ahead of him. He certainly has achieved that.

He's incredible. I mean, the way he stays on top of the baseline and goes after the ball, his racquet head speed is something else. He's got such incredible margin because of his racquet head speed. It's amazing to see.

If you leave anything short or anything neutral, I mean, the point is over. Doesn't matter who he's playing against. He just absolutely rips the ball to the corner, doesn't go for the lines. As I said, he's got good margin. He's very confident. Of course, that helps, allows him to go after the ball.

I'm just so impressed with him. There's a reason why he's won so many matches this year. It's because he's just incredible. He obviously works his ass off and does all the right things. Very impressed with him. One of the best players in the game. I was very fortunate to beat him today. Hats off to him. I think he's incredible.

As it goes for missing the Aussie, no pressure. I didn't want to go over there this year. Hopefully I can be there next year. I don't think it puts too much pressure on me at the French Open. I'm playing pretty pressure-free right now. I feel like in the big moments I'm playing well. I'm just happy to still be out here competing at 36 years old.

I've been very lucky throughout my career to stay healthy. I've had a great career. I have a lot to lean on as far as results and stuff goes. I think I have the mentality of playing pressure-free, which is what I've been doing this year. It's been a lot of fun.

Q. Question about Wimbledon. Have you ever or would you ever dive on the Wimbledon grass? Continuing on the same subject, what are your thoughts on the art of the Wimbledon dive? Something you've seen Boris Becker, Dustin Brown do. Do you appreciate that part of grass court tennis?

JOHN ISNER: I definitely appreciate that part of it. I don't think I'm graceful or athletic enough to pull off the dive. I don't think I've ever gone after it, dived on the Wimbledon grounds. Not that I wouldn't do it. I'm not skilled enough to pull it off.

I've certainly slipped and fallen on the courts and looked goofy doing that. As you mentioned, I can see there's Becker highlights right now of him diving on the court. Sampras has done it. Dustin Brown is incredible. I think it's so unique.

It's really the only surface that you can pull it off on because you're going to land on a nice, soft, plush grass court, so... It's what makes that tournament so special. Every year you're going to get a handful of special moments with players diving.

Q. What do you think of Dominic Thiem? Have you seen his crisis? What do you think about it?

JOHN ISNER: What is his crisis?

Q. Was kind of like something he said he was a little bit kind of like motivation problems after his US Open win. He had some problems with his knee. He doesn't like he was away from the court.

JOHN ISNER: I mean, I guess it's understandable, a guy like him, who has played a lot of matches in the last three, four years, a lot of, lot of matches. Maybe he just got a little bit physically fatigued. Maybe it finally caught up to him. Mentally fatigued as well.

He probably did the smart thing to take a lot of time off. I think he played Dubai or something like that. He took a lot of time off of that. He missed Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Those are tournaments that he normally would play. But it was the right decision for him to recharge, get healthy and get motivated again.

He's definitely fresh right now. He's won two matches. He's, in my opinion, the second best clay-courter in the world right now. So it's going to be a very tough task for me tomorrow, especially on this court. He hits the ball so big. It's pretty fast. He just does so many things well.

I'm going to have to play extremely well if I want to have any chance to beat him.

Q. This was your first top 10 win since 2019 Laver Cup and 2018 Miami. What does it mean to get a top 10 victory for you?

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's good. It's always good. It's a nice I guess feather in my cap right now with my ranking being a little bit lower. I haven't played much since the tour stopped last year. I think this is my only seventh event. I haven't had many matches. My record this year is like 6-3. Andrey is like 35-2, something.

I haven't had many matches. But to beat a guy like that, maybe being a little bit undercooked, is a very special moment for me. Doesn't get any easier obviously against Domi tomorrow.

Q. Would you have expect so good performance in this tournament so far? Playing Dominic Thiem tomorrow, maybe don't you think it could be easier for you than this because maybe he lacked of rhythm, lacked of matches? Can't you see it like this?

JOHN ISNER: Well, I mean, I think to answer the first part of your question, I'm actually pretty surprised right now to be in the quarterfinals. As I said earlier, I haven't played much. I certainly haven't played on clay that much. I think this is my first tournament on clay. Maybe I played Roland Garros last year, I probably played two tournaments in three years on clay.

I'm happy to be in the quarterfinals. I've been in this spot before two other times. I guess I'm no stranger to making it this far at this event.

I think Dominic is 100% ready to go. He hasn't had that many matches, but he has two matches under his belt here. Any player will tell you once you get some wins, that snowball effect happens. You start to get some momentum. I think he's experiencing that right now.

I'm certainly the underdog tomorrow, but I'm going to go out there and try to get it done.