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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPENAugust 16, 2013John IsnerCINCINNATI, OHIO J. ISNER/N, Djokovic THE MODERATOR: Today marks John's second win over ATP No.1, and he's 15‑3 since July. First question, please. Q. Can you compare this win to when you beat him at Indian Wells, and also just to other big wins like Roddick at the US Open. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's very similar. I guess the only real difference is this was the quarterfinals; that was the semifinals. Both matches extremely close, and I really feel like the crowd in both matches really, really helped me out. It was just so much fun to play out there. It's one of the reasons why I work so hard to be able to be in a situation like that and to sort of enjoy it. So it was a fantastic win for me. Certainly one of my greatest memories as a tennis player. So it's a great win. I'm very happy. Q. John, it's not necessarily a usual match for you. You had a ton of breakpoint opportunities throughout the match. You were getting a lot of looks at his serve. What was getting you that many looks, keeping you from converting, and then finally broke through at the end? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, I did have a lot of looks, and I felt like I was playing well, very well. Outside of a few stretches where I didn't put any returns in the court. But for the most part, I was putting the ball on the court and I was feeling good off the baseline. I felt like, when I had a chance, I played aggressively, and I did that well. I think I was able to put a little bit of pressure on him. It didn't really pay off until the very end, but little things like me running around on second serves and hitting big forehands. You know, you saw the deuce point he tried to, I guess, thread the needle a little bit and didn't want me to hit a forehand and he missed it wide. So little things like that, I think, accumulated over time. But really this is a match I‑ just as a the lot of matches I play ‑ I could have very easily lost it. But I was very fortunate today. It was a lot of fun to share the court with him. Q. Being more aggressive and running around, taking cuts at returns is what you think accounts for this good record lately, as you mentioned? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, for sure. On top of that, I've been serving well. These hard courts are surfaces that I enjoy playing on. Not only that, I'm playing in the States. My record in the U.S. compared to outside the U.S. is shockingly different. I'll take it any way I can get it. These are very fun moments. Q. John, were you surprised that you didn't go to a tiebreaker at the end? JOHN ISNER: Well, it certainly looked like it. He was up 40‑15 in that last game, and I hit probably the best shot I hit all match. I hit a passing shot that brought it to 40‑30. I don't know, I won the next point, so at that point it was deuce. I knew, when I got to deuce, I felt like there was a chance I could maybe win the match without a tiebreaker. But if it went to a tiebreaker, it was a situation I was going to be comfortable in. I wasn't going to back away from it. Q. John, how would you rate your form today in terms of like best match that you've played since... JOHN ISNER: I think‑‑ you know, I've been playing very well all summer. You know, I wouldn't necessarily say I've been playing unbelievably well, but my results have been very solid. I think I've sort of put all that together this week. I started out in my first round match I played well. I feel like I've played very well in each match that I played so far. I think today was the best match I played. In order for a guy like me to beat a guy like him, I'm going to have to play extremely well; that's what happened today. So my form, yeah, it's in a very good spot right now; my body feels good. Don't have to worry about anything there. It's good times for sure. Q. What do you mean a guy like you? JOHN ISNER: Well, I mean, look, for me to beat Novak or any of the guys that are at the top of the game I'm going to have to play very, very solid. You know, I don't have‑‑ I've only beaten him once before, and even that, I think, is a pretty good achievement. He's the No.1 player in the world. Simply put, he's a better tennis player than me. He just is. His record proves that. But on any given day, as I said before, I think I can beat anyone, and that was the case today. Q. John, I know, when it was brought up earlier in the week you were fairly dismissive of no Americans in the top 20 thing, saying it didn't apply to you. You've gotten two top‑10 wins this week and it's been one of your best in a while. Do you think that was bulletin board material for you in the back of your mind? JOHN ISNER: No, it wasn't actually. I just wanted to‑‑ really didn't care about that stat. I knew coming in here this week that I was playing well; I knew there was a shot that I could do well here. That's been the case so far. I got off to a good start, and I've just been rolling ever since. You know, I did fall out of the top 20, but I think the rest of this year and the beginning of next year I think there's a lot of room for me to keep gaining ground. I want to get back in the top 10, and I want to stay there for longer than I did last year. Q. Last time you beat Djokovic is when you broke into the top 10 the first time. Can you just in general terms explain why the dips happened since then? JOHN ISNER: You know, this year I think I got off to a rocky start with me not really being able to compete in Australia at all. I didn't play the Australian Open. Simply put, I didn't do as well ‑ not nearly as well ‑ as I did in Indian Wells the year before. And from that, my ranking fell. Then, as always, I didn't necessarily play too great in Europe, but I really felt like I was starting to turn things around at Wimbledon. I really felt like I was starting to‑‑ I don't know, something just sort of clicked. I felt like I was starting to hit the ball a lot better, and I was until I got hurt. But I was able to recover quickly. I was able to sort of keep that momentum, even though I didn't really have any. I knew that I was playing better, and it was just, for me, a matter of getting healthy. Q. John, I don't want to cut short your enjoyment of this win, but can you talk a little bit about your next match. That's going to be a tough one coming up. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, very tough. I mean, I played him just two weeks ago on pretty much the same court, in my opinion, just in Washington. That was in a big match in the finals, and he beat me in three sets. But it was a pretty comfortable win on his part. He's so good. You guys know that. His best surface is a hard court, just as I think mine is as well. I hope I can just do a few things differently. I feel like I'm a bit fresher now than I was then, as I was coming off back‑to‑back events at that time. But he was certainly the better player. Just as today, I'm going to have to play very well if I want to win. Q. Is there anything you might adjust from that match going into tomorrow? JOHN ISNER: I haven't thought about it yet, the Xs and Os. Normally, that doesn't change for me too much. It's not rocket science, what I do. I try to hold serve as much as I can, and then I take it from there. But I'll talk to my coach for sure. I don't think it's‑‑ it won't be Xs and Os for sure. Q. He's talked about having some problems with his left wrist a little bit this week. He's had injury problems before. He had back problems in D.C. and stuff. Is that the kind of thing you would ever look to exploit in a match, or are you just not that Xs and Os in general? JOHN ISNER: I'm not good enough to do that. I didn't even know he had a wrist problem. I sort of feel his pain. He's a big guy out there. Sometimes he looks a bit sluggish on the court, and sometimes I do as well. So sort of a big guy syndrome, I guess. I think he'll be ready to go tomorrow. Q. John, there was a time violation that Novak got there in the third set, and it sounded like you kind of backed him up in terms of his frustration with getting the violation with the crowd going nuts and stuff. Can you talk about that a little. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, as I said on the court, it didn't affect the match. It really wasn't a case where he was bouncing the ball 25 times like he's done before. The crowd really just quieted down. It also wasn't a case where I was ready to return serve. It's not like I had been ready for 10 seconds either. I didn't necessarily agree with it, but it didn't‑‑ at that point, it didn't take away a first serve. It was just a warning. Had later in the match he had gotten another one, yeah, it might have made a difference. But that rule is pretty subjective. Yeah, it is 25 seconds, but in situations like that with the crowd after that point, we played and they were buzzing a little bit, I don't think that time penalty call was warranted. Q. Would you want to see it like the clock starts when the umpire announces the score and go from there? JOHN ISNER: I don't know. Q. Because then the crowd would have died down by then. JOHN ISNER: Yeah. I haven't thought about it too much. It's something that I've adapted to. You know, it's always been the rule, but not as heavily enforced as it has been this year. It's something we all, as players, we've got to be conscious of. Q. You had your first serve going at 74% today. When about in the match do you realize that, Okay, it feels good today? And do you look at your serve as independent from the rest of your game; whereas, you know, maybe you feed off of how well you're playing in other areas with your serve? JOHN ISNER: I feel like it is pretty independent. You know, a lot of times I can serve extremely well in a match and not do other things so well. But I did not know that stat. I do know, when I beat him in Indian Wells, I served in the 70s as well. So playing a lot of second serves against a guy who returns so well is not what you want to do. So on my part, that was very good. Serving that high percentage certainly helped me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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