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U.S. OPEN

August 31, 2009

John Isner

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

J. ISNER/V. Hanescu
6-1, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did you get back to fitness, full fitness, so quickly after having mononucleosis?
JOHN ISNER: That was a process, really. You know, I missed the whole European swing. It might have been a blessing in disguise. I felt fresh ever since I started playing in the States. But definitely my first tournament back, I think it was Indianapolis, I wasn't 100% physically as far as, you know, fatigue-wise.
I think it's gotten little better by better ever so slowly. Actually had a scare in the tournament in Cincinnati. I thought it might come back. I just felt horrible. Fortunately it didn't.
I took a good three days off before this tournament because I knew I needed the rest, and that's what my body was telling me to do. So I felt good.

Q. When you talk about having a scare, was it just that you felt exhausted, or what, for you, are the symptoms?
JOHN ISNER: I think more exhausted. It was my fifth -- I played five straight tournaments. I wasn't planning on playing Montreal, but actually got into that tournament because I did really well in DC. So that kind of threw a wrench in our plans.
I went there and played two matches, did pretty well there and never really had time off, never played five tournaments in a row. I kind of felt the effects my second match in Cincinnati.

Q. And you were playing doubles.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah.

Q. Why play doubles when you're already trying to conserve your energy?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I don't know. It's just -- I like to play doubles. I like to play with my partner, Sam. We have a lot of fun, and there is absolutely no pressure. If I go out there don't make a ball, he'll just laugh it off. That didn't put too much stress on me.

Q. You were diagnosed in May, but when do you think it really began?
JOHN ISNER: Probably around -- I was playing a challenger in Georgia, I guess it was -- God, it's hot in here -- early May. It was hot and humid, and I just played -- I was in the quarterfinals and I literally played two games and I was just done. Thought it might have been the heat.
Then I came back. I remember I had seven days before I was going over to Paris, and I tried practicing through it. And the weekend hit and I just felt really, really sick. I got checked out, and sure enough, I had mono.

Q. How serious do you think it was knowing what happened to Mario Ancic and what Federer went through?
JOHN ISNER: Um, you know, I guess they were able to tell that it wasn't a real -- it was acute. I guess that's what they said. So it hadn't been in my system for that long. Kind of just came up.
As long as I did the right things, you know, they said I would be able to recover fully. I did. I went back home to North Carolina and I ate really healthy. My mom spoiled me, and that, I think that helped a lot. I kind of just rested up and ate really healthy and kind of took it easy.

Q. I seemed midway through your second set you sort of mistimed your forehand a little bit more. Was that a reaction to the way Hanescu was scrambling, or was it more of a technical issue?
JOHN ISNER: I don't know. I started off so well. The first set and a half, that was as well as I've played in a long time. He was able to get a break back in the second and kind of leveled the match.
I think he felt more comfortable after that point, as well. I felt like, you know, he might have played -- I felt like he played pretty well, and he was scrambling and making a lot of balls. Doesn't look like he's that fast out there, but he gets to a lot of balls. He was making me hit a lot of extra shots, and unfortunately, I started missing a few.

Q. How do you feel going into the next match with a day's rest?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I'll be fine. I feel like I could go tomorrow if I had to. So tomorrow's day of rest it will be perfect. I'll hit lightly and get a massage and be easy. It will be nice.

Q. Talk about the tiebreak a little bit, fighting off ten set points in the second set.
JOHN ISNER: Is that what it was? Jesus. Yeah, that was -- I started off a little bit slow. Obviously I didn't really want to go to a tiebreaker. I had a 3-1 lead or whatnot in the second set. I think I was down 5-2 and he was serving, so he had two serves at 5-2 and 6-3. I played two good service points at 6-3, and 6-4, and played a really good point at 6-5, so I leveled it up. I think he had maybe five on his serve, and each one of his points I played really, really well.
I just told myself if I could just get one advantage I might be able to take it. That's what happened.

Q. It seems like a lot of your big results this summer have come as you now move into your third full year on tour as a professional. Is that just becoming more accustomed to life on tour or something you've been working on specifically?
JOHN ISNER: No, I think it is. Last year was a learning experience for me. I shot up in the rankings really high when I first came out. I was kind of ahead of my learning curve really. Although I had a nice ranking, my game wasn't where it should be then.
Last year I took a lot of losses, a lot of bumps and bruises. I think, you know, your second time around, like my second full year around I knew it was going to be a little bit easier. So I'm playing better and I'm more comfortable at each and every event.

Q. Considering what you just said, do you feel there is more and more pressure on young U.S. tennis players right now?
JOHN ISNER: No, I think last year coming to this tournament I wasn't really playing that well, didn't really win too many matches prior to this tournament, and then I kind of felt a lot of pressure. It was kind of the last hardcourt tournament over in the States, so I wanted to do really well.
I told myself this year even if I do go out and lose first round I still had a good summer and improved my ranking. Didn't feel much pressure out there at all.

Q. I say that because, before the U.S. used to be the eminent country on the tour. It's not the case anymore. How do you deal with that?
JOHN ISNER: I don't know. I don't really think too much about it. I mean, if I -- if I don't succeed, I mean, who cares really? It's not that big of a -- I try not to stress about it.
We still have some -- obviously Andy is up there, and I know James will get back up there. He's been struggling with injuries, and Sam's playing really well.
I'm kind of right behind those guys, so hopefully I can, you know, get into the top 50, which I think is coming up. Then once I get there, go from there.
So I want to be a big name, you know, in tennis, not just American tennis. So I want my name to be thrown out there at the other events, not just the ones that are in the States.

Q. But you don't feel people here are expecting too much from you?
JOHN ISNER: No, I don't feel like that. Maybe last year they were. I might have felt a little pressure, but I mean I don't know. I don't feel pressure like that at all, really.

Q. To answer who cares, I imagine the USTA must care. If you don't have Americans doing well, that would affect economics, prize money, television rights, things like that.
JOHN ISNER: It's not who cares. It's just I don't really stress too much about it. I think that's kind of a good mentality to have. If I do well, great. If I don't, it's not the end of the world, either.
So obviously, yeah, I think the better, you know, American players do it's going to help us a lot with sponsorships and stuff like that. But I just try not to stress about stuff like that.

End of FastScripts

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