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DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND: BRAZIL v USAFebruary 1, 2013Jim CourierJohn IsnerJACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA J. ISNER/T. Alvez THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. John, at any point in that match, particularly any time towards the second set tiebreaker, were you at all laboring at all? JOHN ISNER: I wasn't laboring. I don't realize it when I'm out there, but I guess I am pretty slow and pretty deliberate, especially in a three‑out‑of‑five‑set match. I'm just different. I'm a lot bigger than everybody else. That's how I've always been. At the same time, one thing I thought I could have showed a lot better body posture out there. Cap pointed that out to me. In hindsight, he's 100% right. As far as that goes, pretty disappointed in that because even though I was winning the match ‑ we were just talking about it ‑ if you didn't see a scoreboard you would think that my opponent was winning the match. That's something that could have been better today and something I need to improve on. Q. John, how much did the four weeks' layoff bother you today? Could you tell by your game that it wasn't as sharp as you wanted it to be? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, I had a great week of practice. I didn't expect today honestly to come out and just be lights out. I knew I was going to have to rely on my serve a lot. But it was certainly choppy out there at times. I littered up the stat sheet for sure. I know I had a lot of aces, had a lot of souvenirs into the crowd as well on my forehand. It wasn't exactly pretty, but I knew that may be the case going into this match today because I'm real short on match practice, real short on practice in general. But these are the type of matches for me going forward that I need to get under my belt. But all in all I'm very happy with the outcome and glad I was able to contribute today. Sam played a great match before me, so I knew I had to try to do my part. Q. John, how did the knee feel? Playing three sets give you that much more confidence for Sunday and starting your season going forward? JOHN ISNER: Yeah. You know, it felt fine. It didn't bother me today. I wasn't thinking about it. That's really crucial. I don't know. It could be sore tomorrow morning possibly. I don't expect it to be. I'm ready to play on Sunday whether or not it's live. If it's still live, I'm ready to go for that fourth match. If it's not live, the teams agree to play, I would still like to play. For me, I should be fine on Sunday. I was very happy with how my knee felt. I think us as a team, we made a good decision. I know I'm personally glad we made the decision to keep me in the lineup. Q. John, with your game being off like that, did you feel you had to rely on your serve? The 32 aces. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, I always rely on my serve. I wouldn't have such a pretty good ranking if it wasn't for my serve. Going in every match I have to rely on my serve heavily. But, you know, I wasn't as sharp in other facets of my game. Something I'm always trying to improve on. Davis Cup weeks are a great way to improve. For me, you know, today, it wasn't that pretty. Like I said before, I knew I was going to have to rely on my serve a lot, and I did that. Maybe it wasn't the prettiest, but I'm happy to get through. Q. Looking ahead to Sunday, Jim. Players want to play. Do you look at his health, maybe the chance to get a younger player Davis Cup experience in singles, like Ryan Harrison? CAPTAIN COURIER: I wouldn't get ahead of the doubles match. Those guys, they're a very good team from Brazil. We'll be ready to play a live match on Sunday. Just the rules of Davis Cup, if we're going to replace any of the singles players on Sunday, it has to come from the four players on the team. So Ryan Harrison is not an option for Sunday, just so you know. Q. John, obviously these Davis Cup rubbers are all about the team. Was this a little bit more important individually than usual based on the circumstances? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it was really important. For me personally I have a lot of tournaments ahead of me. This year, didn't get off to a great start down in Australia. Actually, I haven't won a match since October. So it's been a while. So for me, like I said, it's great to get this one under my belt. It's even better to get this win in a pressure‑packed situation in Davis Cup. In a match on paper, I'm probably favored, so there was a little bit of pressure on me as far as that goes. For me going forward, I think this match was very important, but at the same time I'm glad I was able to put the U.S. up 2‑0. Q. Jim, both Brazilian opponents expressed concern about the speed of the surface. Was that your intent, making this surface as quick as possible? CAPTAIN COURIER: It's interesting. It's been ruled a medium surface by the ITF. It's not medium fast, it's not fast, it's medium. We could have gone a lot faster if we'd chosen to. Our concern is obviously our team, as is every home team when they have an opportunity to select surface. Q. John, passing off a 2‑0 lead with the Bryan brothers on deck, can you use another sporting analogy, what that's like? JOHN ISNER: As far as the analogy goes, I'm really not sure. I guess Mariano Rivera like, I guess. I know those guys aren't looking past their opponents. Me personally right now, I have to keep the mindset of playing a live fourth match. These guys have been playing doubles together for such a long time, they've been playing Davis Cup doubles together for a very long time. So Bob and Mike are going to be well‑prepared going into tomorrow. We're going to have the utmost confidence in them. It's going to be a lot of fun, though, to sit back and watch them try to clinch it for us. Like I said, we do have a lot of confidence in them. Q. Jim, how do you like your team's chances up 2‑0? CAPTAIN COURIER: We're certainly pleased to be in this position. We have a lot of confidence in Bob and Mike. As John said, they're going to go out and lay it on the line. It will take a really special effort to beat them. The Brazilian team is capable of that. It's trite. It's true. We need three more sets, so we're going to focus on that some way, somehow. Q. John, getting your first win on U.S. soil today. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's great. Same goes for Sam. Both of us have played a good amount of Davis Cup matches, but we've never played at home. So it's a bit abnormal. For me, this one is very special. Hopefully as my career progresses, I can play a lot more home Davis Cup ties. It's really a lot of fun. To get this first one under my belt, it feels really good. Q. John, it seemed like towards the end of the second set you were having problems on your forehand. There were six unforced errors. What was going on there? Just a case of rust? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, today I probably hit my backhand better than I hit my forehand. I know going forward that my two best shots are my serve and my forehand, so I got to continue to keep swinging at the ball. Maybe that's what I wasn't doing on my forehand. I wasn't going after it hard enough. If you don't swing full out, if I swing 85% out, it's really not good. I was maybe a little bit tense. Wasn't really flowing too freely out there for me at a certain point in the second set. Cap was telling me that. He told me some tactical things I can do with my forehand. Simple. Just get my legs behind the ball and keep my body weight going forward. I was pulling off the ball too much. That's when I was shanking the ball into the cheap seats. That second set, it could have gone either way. If I didn't have my serve, it probably would have gone his way. Q. Can you just talk a little bit about the atmosphere. It wasn't a packed house, but it seemed like it picked up a little bit in the second match. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, Friday, 2:00, I guess people are still at work, whatnot. But I think hopefully we can have a better crowd tomorrow. But that being said, I thought the crowd was phenomenal. They were really loud. They got loud at the right times. It helped Sam and it helped me a lot, too. Also Davis Cup doubles is very, very exciting, especially when you have the Bryan brothers on your team. So expect a really good crowd tomorrow and hopefully they can be very loud again. Q. Jim, can you talk about Sam's performance. He played outstanding all around. CAPTAIN COURIER: Yeah. I think what you saw with Sam is the difference between a player who is match tested versus John who is trying to find his match toughness. Sam has had a good start to the season. Played well in Australia. Lost a tight one to Wawrinka, not a five‑setter, but high‑level tennis. I think Sam has kept that momentum coming into here. He did play well today I thought. He was comfortable on the court. He looked like he was striking his backhand very well, which is a key. Like John, his serve and his forehand is typically very reliable when he's on form. So it was a good day for Sam. He definitely set the table for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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