US OPEN

August 30, 2021

John Isner

Press Conference

B. NAKASHIMA/J. Isner

7-6, 7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: If you could just give us your thoughts on the match.

JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, it was a tough match. Brandon is a very good player. Has a lot of promise. Someone asked me I guess a couple days ago, Do you think experience will play a factor? I said, no, because he's got a very good demeanor out there on the court.

I think that served him well today, and I think it's going to serve him well in the future also.

As I said, he's a good player, and he was certainly better today. I expended a lot of energy getting back to even in that first set, and then not to be able to win it being up 5-2 in the tiebreaker was a bit demoralizing, and I think that had a lot to do with the outcome.

Q. Obviously it's tough to think about the future, long range, et cetera, when you've just come off the court. But when you came to the tournament here this year, what were your thoughts about time and the opportunities that you have here at the US Open?

JOHN ISNER: I didn't think about that. I mean, I still feel pretty good. I had a very good summer. I have had a good year. I just, you know, I didn't do well at Wimbledon, and I certainly didn't do well here. But apart from that, you know, I have been very solid and been tough to beat. But, you know, I don't like to go out early like this. It's disappointing.

We'll see, you know, how much longer I want to play. You know, I'm ranked like 20 in the world and I've only played nine or ten tournaments this year. So as I said, you know, as long as I feel good, just maybe hopefully give myself another shot at this tournament next year.

Q. Given that you're his contemporary, what is your take on what Novak Djokovic has done this year and how he's caught up and is on the verge of passing Nadal and Federer?

JOHN ISNER: I mean, what do you want me to say? It's amazing. It's really good. But I don't want to talk about that right now. I'm sorry.