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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 13, 2011

John Isner

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

J. ISNER/R. Mello
6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First match out here morning after a Davis Cup stint and traveling, how did you feel? Talk about the match.
JOHN ISNER: I felt good. I mean, it was -- the travel wasn't an issue. Had plenty of time. In every tournament I play I like to get out there as early as possible. If I had my druthers, it would be Saturday first match.
I like the schedule. I like playing first up. I feel more comfortable when I'm playing earlier in the day than at night, so that was very good for me.
It's a nice feeling. You know, here it's 1:00 and I've already won my match. Even though it wasn't that pretty, it was still good to get a win.

Q. So you're a morning person. A lot of players aren't. Could you actually get up and play a match if you were forced to at like 7:00 or 8:00?
JOHN ISNER: I don't know about 8:00. Could I do 9:00 or 10:00, for sure. I can't really sleep past -- I can't remember the last time I slept past 9:00, so I am a morning person.
I kind of get really anxious too before a match, so I get out and get it over with, whether it's a win or a loss.

Q. What do you think coming into the tournament after the last couple months based on your results? How have you been playing? What do you want to do here moving forward?
JOHN ISNER: I want to have a great result here. I haven't been playing that well, and I'm not -- you know, hitting the right shots at the right time has just been sort of a struggle.
But I know coming here and playing on this surface and this environment is very good for my game. So this tournament, for me, is coming at the right time.

Q. When you get back on the hard courts, do you just sort of feel like this is where you want to be and you feel like things are clicking and you're more secure?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, that has something to do with it. And just being here at Indian Wells, it's so nice. The ball is flying. It's a pretty fast surface, but it's also pretty gritty and it bounces up pretty high. That's very good for my game.
I just really enjoy it here. I have always been comfortable, as are most of the Americans that play here.

Q. What do you think has held you back from playing your best tennis so far this year?
JOHN ISNER: Um, I don't know. I have been talking about it with my coach. The match I lost in Australia with Cilic was a tough one. I lost in five sets. It's one I had my shots to put the match away, and I just didn't do it. I just didn't play the right way. That one kind of -- that match kind of wore on me for a while, and I had a little break after that.
Then I played Del Potro in Memphis, which was a tough draw, but I still didn't play well. That just kind of started -- you know, hit a little skid from there.
But, you know, I know that I can play well and have good results in tournaments. That's just what I'm trying to focus on and put everything in the past behind me, just focus on the ball.

Q. When you're talking to your coach about your return games, what do you guys talking about? I know you have been talking about it for almost a year now, trying to get better.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah.

Q. Discuss that, and what do you think you can do so you can break occasionally to make it easier on yourself.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, well, in today's match I started off -- I couldn't have started off any better, really. I'm up 4-1 and I have 15-40, and then I didn't win that game. Then from there, I just -- that's when my game just went downhill for a little bit.
Thankfully I was serving well. But at 4-1, 15-40, I was playing the right way and I didn't get that, and I don't know really what happened. I just stopped playing really how I was playing in the previous -- in the first five games.
So it's just something -- obviously it's something I'm always working on and I need to do better at.

Q. Is it more getting the ball back in play, or are you talking about attacking second serves too?
JOHN ISNER: It's not necessarily -- I feel like I get the ball back in play a good amount. It's just depth on the return. Because a lot of these guys they, you know, if they get on top of me, that's where I'm very, very vulnerable. I'm not the best, you know, defensive player.
So I just need to, at worst, be neutral on the point. But, yeah, I mean, with the way I can serve and can I hold serve, I probably can take a little bit more chances. That's what I did out there today. The shots just really weren't going in. I made a lot of unforced errors.
But I was kind of -- I was pretty pleased, because I felt like I was going for my shots.

Q. Obviously tennis can be a pretty brutal endeavor. You've had a lot of great wins, the NCAAs, Roddick in five, Mahut, but also some tough losses, in particular Santiago.
JOHN ISNER: Uh-huh.

Q. When you were going down, your rookie coach, Coach Jim Courier, what did Jim say to you? How did he help you out?
JOHN ISNER: He just said don't hang my head. I gave it my best effort, which is what I did. It was disappointing. It's another match where I had my shots to win. You know, I'm up two sets to love, break points at 4-3 in the third, which are essentially match points if I just get one of them.
Just didn't really clamp down and focus and play my best tennis at the best times, and my tennis just kind of got away from me. I was really, really disappointed.
To be quite honest, I was quite devastated after that match. I wanted to give our team a 2-0 lead, you know, but it just wasn't to be. And thankfully we had the Bryan brothers and Andy, you know, right behind me.
But like I said, that was tough. I wanted to get that one, but I'm trying to put that one behind me, because that was -- that match was, it was a brutal one.

Q. So do you think Jim has potential to be a good Davis Cup captain for us? Could you talk about his qualities he brings to the sideline?
JOHN ISNER: Absolutely. I mean, I think more so it's what he's done, what he did as a player and how he competed and fought, you know, all throughout his career. I mean, he was an absolute -- he was an animal, so that's really what you need at Davis Cup. You need good competitors.
I feel like I'm a pretty good competitor, and Andy obviously is one of the best in the game right now. That's what Captain Courier brings.
He's a great guy to have on the bench, without a doubt.

Q. You've been on the tour a few years now. Is this the year where you feel like this is when I'm going to start peaking?
JOHN ISNER: No, I didn't really tell myself, like, This is the year I will break into the top 10 or whatnot. Last year I had a great year, and I still think my best tennis is three, four years ahead of me, even though I'm 25 right now. That's just how I feel. It's just going to take a little time. I have always been a late developer, and this year hasn't been the greatest year so far.
But that said, there's still plenty more tournaments. I could do very well for the rest of this year. It's just a matter of me going out there and making the right plays.

Q. Have you had any press conferences since Wimbledon which haven't brought up the marathon, the match?
JOHN ISNER: I thought I was going to get away with this one.

Q. No, no, no.
JOHN ISNER: To be honest with you, I don't think I have. That's all right. That match was extraordinary and something special, and it will never seen again before. So I know no matter what I do with the rest of my career, I will be asked a lot of questions about that, and that's fine.

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