|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEYJanuary 9, 2013John IsnerSYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES R. HARRISON/J. Isner THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How you feeling? How is the knee? JOHN ISNER: It's better. Definitely better than I thought, but it's not 100%. I don't know. I got a decision to make shortly. Q. Really? So it was that painful trying to move today? JOHN ISNER: Like I said, it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was a lot better than it was six days ago, but it wasn't 100%. What I have needs time. That's all it is. Q. What is it? JOHN ISNER: I have a bone bruise on my knee. Q. Is it can't get much worse but it's painful? JOHN ISNER: It can get worse. It needs rest is what it needs. That's what I've done. That's the only thing I've done the last‑‑ ever since I felt it last week is rest. It's definitely improved a lot, but, you know, there's nothing you can do. There is no taping you can do because it's all in the bone. It's not like muscular or tendon on anything like that. So I don't know really. I got to think about some stuff. Q. What's the risk factor playing in Melbourne? You're obviously talking about that decision. JOHN ISNER: You'll make it worse. I will need to take time off somewhere. That's a given. It's not just going to heal. I can't play all the way through and have it heal. Q. So you have the Grand Slam versus Davis Cup decision basically? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I have to talk to the Davis Cup doctor actually who read the MRI and talk with my team. It's my decision ultimately. I don't know. Right now, honestly, I don't know. It's wearing on me for sure. It's not ideal. I'm not too clear right now. Q. When do you think you'll make a call on it? JOHN ISNER: I don't know. I don't know. Could be tonight; couldn't tomorrow; could be the next day. I'm not sure. Q. So you could conceivably wait five or six days and it might get to the point where you could actually play in Melbourne? I mean where you could play seven matches. JOHN ISNER: I could play, but I can't even ‑‑ from now up until Melbourne I definitely can't practice like I need to. I could play, you know. Certainly I could win a match maybe, a match or two. I don't see myself winning the whole tournament at this point, that's for sure. But it's hampering my training. I haven't done that, period, so it's my own doing. I sort of felt it a little bit in December and just didn't do anything about it. Q. What did you do, bang into something? JOHN ISNER: No, no. I have like a little‑‑ I don't know the technical, but I have like a little's ‑‑ it's called a cleft or something in my cartilage. It's not something that‑‑ it's not like a tear or anything. You can see it on the MRI. Underneath the bone is all lit up from the bruise. So I had that, and then it was just the constant‑‑ that's what ‑‑ you know, the constant pounding on it then caused the bruise. Q. So it's internal rather than external? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's all in the bone. Like I said, it's a pain tolerance thing. It wasn't like ultra painful out there today, but you could feel it. I could feel it. On top of that, I was playing a guy who is playing very well; me, I haven't practiced too much. I knew if I needed to beat Ryan today I was going to have to be on top of my game to even have a shot at beating him. He was definitely better than me. Just not ideal right now. Q. So there were a couple of time warnings in the first set. Talk about that. Did that distract you? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it did, to be honest. You know, I knew about the rule, but I went on the court and wasn't really thinking. I had it called right way my second service game, I think. You know, for someone who sweats a lot like me, that's why I wear a hat, because I can't play without a hat. It's always dripping. I felt like I could never go to the towel. The umpire was going like this the whole match. (Indicating stopwatch.) He was looking at meet whole match. I believe when I got called on the warning I was getting ready to serve. I was at the line. I don't particularly like that rule, that's for sure, because it messed with my rhythm, my flow, and I'm sure it's doing that to a lot of other players, too. Every time I'd look up he's doing this. (Stopwatch.) It throws you off. I'm not intentionally trying to stall out there, but I've always moved a little slower. You know, at certain points in the match you need to take five extra seconds. I have to go to the towel to wipe off sweat that's dripping off my hat. I really felt like I wasn't able to do that, so I don't like this rule. Q. The players voted for it, right? JOHN ISNER: The player council did. Q. They didn't talk to the whole group about it? JOHN ISNER: No, I don't know when‑‑ supposedly it happened at the US Open. I don't know. I know I got to the US Open very late last year, so I don't know what exactly happened. I'm sure it was good intentions, but then you got to test it out a little bit. So I hope in the future‑‑ I would like it to be changed in some way so you don't just feel rushed. I felt rushed out there. For five years I've played the same way. Q. Andy Murray said last week that he would be in favor of it if they add five seconds. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I think five seconds... Q. That would do it more or less? JOHN ISNER: And I would like it if the referee wouldn't go like this every single point. (Stopwatch.) Q. It's new to them, too, right? JOHN ISNER: It is. It is. But who knows when to‑‑ I mean, if the ball is not in the air at 25 seconds do you call it? I don't know exactly. Q. Do you think there will be problems next week in Melbourne? JOHN ISNER: I think it's just an ATP thing. I think Grand Slams are... THE MODERATOR: 20 seconds at slams. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, but I've never really had an issue at a Grand Slam. The ATP isn't forcing this particular rule on the Grand Slams. So, you know, I don't know. I have to go back and look at the video. Certainly didn't feel like 25 seconds, the one I got called on. Q. That was just a warning, though. Did you get called for a fault? JOHN ISNER: No, no. It was just a warning. I actually thought the rule was warning, point, game, to be completely honest with you. It's warning, point, point, point. I had no idea. That's how they did it in juniors, I think, so... Q. Or fault, fault, fault? JOHN ISNER: I seriously thought it was warning, point, game, match. I was way off. Not even close. Now I know. Q. So it doesn't sound like there was necessarily a lot of warning or communication about how strictly it was going to be enforced. JOHN ISNER: I had heard about it, but then again, I was away. December I wasn't around tournaments, and last week, completely different event. I wasn't thinking about that going into this match at all. If they did keep it as something new I would have to adjust, for sure. I don't like it. I feel like majority of players‑‑ maybe not the majority. I think most players would be on my side, I think. I could be wrong. Q. Not being able to play in Australia potentially is probably not the way you want to start the year, to say the least. JOHN ISNER: No. Q. You have good expectations coming into this season? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, for sure. I always have good expectations coming into a season. You know, I don't know. Eventually I'm going to have to pay the piper with rest somewhere. Q. How much rest did the doctor say exactly? JOHN ISNER: Well... Q. Two weeks? Three? JOHN ISNER:  No, I don't have a particular time table. It's all pain tolerance. Rest is what I need. I have something that I really believe in that I can do for it. This particular machine that I had shipped from Florida over here that I can do for that. Q. So it might work, but still not going to work to the point... JOHN ISNER: It's not like that, but it can definitely accelerate the process. Q. Not to the point where you think you could contend for second week in Melbourne? JOHN ISNER: Right now I don't feel like I could. Q. Just to clarify, you said it was mostly about pain tolerance, but you don't think you would be able to get through more than a couple of matches. Is that because after a couple matches it would become so painful you wouldn't be able to play? JOHN ISNER: Yesterday was the first time I actually played a set, a practice set yesterday, just one set. This morning it was lot more sore than it has been because I hadn't been practicing. So I don't know. Maybe tomorrow morning would be a good sign, a good indicator, of how I wake up and how I feel. I remember in the Hopman Cup after the match against France, that was when I really knew it was sort of a serious issue. I couldn't practice at all the following day. I had a day off. I knew I had to pull out of that event. Q. Is there is any way to just numb it? JOHN ISNER: No. They say no, not really, because it's‑‑ like a shot you're saying? That's more of a muscular thing, I was told. Q. If it's a matter of rest, I'm sure the fans appreciated you going out there and doing your best, but why did you play? Why didn't you rest up and head to Melbourne? JOHN ISNER: I wanted to see how it feels. If it felt great today, then that's ideally what I wanted. I would have liked to have won the match and continue on with this tournament. But it's not something that‑‑ it's not like a three‑, four‑day rest thing. You know, these things are tricky. I haven't had them much, but just takes time to heal. I wanted to give it a shot because it was feeling better. I was hoping I could get out there and try to win and get some confidence under my belt and try to get into this season. Didn't happen today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|