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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 18, 2012John IsnerINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA R. FEDERER/J. Isner THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Can you just sum up this experience, as a whole, this tournament? JOHN ISNER: It was a great experience for me. The whole week was a lot of fun. You know, felt like right from the get‑go I was going to have a good week, but I didn't want to overthink it. I definitely took it one match at a time. I certainly played well all week, and obviously today it did not go my way. You know, I don't really feel like necessarily I played my best, but that's what Roger does. I mean, if I have any shot to beat him I'm gonna have to play my best. That wasn't the case today. He was too strong. All the credit goes to him. Q. The speed on your serves yesterday, you hit like 130s, 140s regularly. Today judging by the speed gun, 120s, 130s. How much does that affect you when you're playing someone like Roger, your serves don't have that kind of bite? JOHN ISNER: Well, I don't know if‑‑ the conditions today, to me, were a lot different than yesterday for me. Um, they were surprisingly‑‑ yesterday throughout the whole match wasn't windy at all, which I thought it was gonna be and it wasn't. Today was a bit blustery. It's not that I didn't‑‑ I mean, I served pretty well. I was taking care of my serve, for the most part, up until the end. But, you know, I don't think I lost the match because I didn't serve as well. He was on top of me, and his forehand was way too good today. Q. You had opportunities obviously in the tiebreaker. What do you look back on in that tiebreaker? JOHN ISNER: Well, yeah, I had opportunities, I don't know, I think it was 2‑All in the first set. My only break points of the match. You know, I probably could have played them more aggressively. You know, when you have chances against Roger like that, you have to try to take it. A lot of times in my matches, you know, a lot of times I only need one break. So, like, if I were to break and whatever, go up whatever it was at the time, then I like my chances to win that first set. Yeah, in the tiebreaker it was it could have gone either way. That backhand pass lob, whatever it was (smiling) at 7‑All, that was obviously huge and it landed on the line. A little bit unlucky there. I'm not complaining. I had a lot of things go my way this week. Q. How do you feel about the top 10? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's great. I'm definitely not content. I want to get to more finals like this, this big, and I want to play my best in them. I'm gonna keep working. This is obviously a fantastic tournament for me. I'm gonna remember this one for a long time, so getting into the top 10 is nice. I think the hard thing now is staying inside of the top 10. That's what I've got to work on. Q. Now that you're in the top 10 and you have had this experience and you're about to go play doubles, Nadal is there, 1, 2, 3 for you, what part of your game do you need to hone in on to stay with these guys? JOHN ISNER: I think I have to keep on being more aggressive on my return. I think Roger did a good job. I felt like he served better today than he did against me in Davis Cup, especially on his second serve. He was mixing it up better. I felt like I had a good bead on his second serve in Davis Cup, and it wasn't so much today. My serve game is my serve game. I have to continue to be more aggressive on the other areas of my game. I'm gonna keep working. I know I have it in me. Q. You have so many friends in the game, Andy, Captain Courier, many others. What was the most fun or interesting message that you've gotten this week during your run? JOHN ISNER: Oh, that's a good question. I don't know. I always keep in touch with Captain Courier just via text. He would give me a few thoughts here or there, but nothing, you know, in depth. That was for my coach, C.B. I felt like me and C.B. worked very well together this week. That's one of the main reasons that I did so well. I mean, my phone blew up after I beat Novak yesterday, so I can't really remember what was there (Laughter.) Q. Did you feel like you were holding your own from the baseline against Roger today? JOHN ISNER: No, no. He was pushing me back too much and getting the ball to my backhand. I just felt likejust too many balls I landed inside of the service line, on the service line, and his forehand was all in today, simple as that. Can't do that against him. He was way stronger. Q. You had kind words for Coach Manny Diaz yesterday. Do you keep in touch with him often? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, pretty much. You know, during this tournament I've kept in touch with him pretty much every day. I never go a week without speaking to Coach Diaz. He's someoneI'll always ‑‑ you know, more so than him being my coach for four years, he's a really good friend. Q. You're in final in singles and final in doubles. If you keep going deep in tournaments in singles and keep playing doubles, it's gonna take some toll on you. I mean, what kind of plans do you have for your doubles commitments and for the rest of the season? JOHN ISNER: Well, I think for sure every year I play this event I'm gonna play doubles. You can see a lot of singles guys play here. I mean, Rafa, Roger played it last year; Novak played it this year. So this is a good tournament because it's 10 days and guys usually‑‑ some guys are coming off a break or whatnot. This is a good tournament to play doubles at. But for me, I really enjoy doubles and I enjoy playing with Sam. We are quite goofy out there. I don't think either one of us‑‑ we don't really know how to per se play doubles like doubles teams out there. But one thing we can do is we can serve big, and we occasionally connect on some returns. It makes for a fun time. But I think Sam and I, you know, as long as we can get into these bigger events, especially the Masters Series, then I'll most likely play doubles in those. As for Grand Slams, probably not for me. It's more so the Masters Series events where I will play doubles at. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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