|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. OPENAugust 29, 2013John IsnerNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK J. ISNER/G. Monfils THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Did the atmosphere bother you at all that Gaël got so much support? Did you notice it at all? JOHN ISNER: I noticed it. You know, he's a fun‑loving guy and an exciting guy to watch no matter where he is playing, but honestly it was a little bit surprising. You know, I know the NewYork fans, they like to see long matches and fifth sets and whatnot, but, you know, it's not like there was no one cheering for me. I was a little bit disappointed in that, actually. Not going to sugar‑coat it. It was certainly, if I was playing him in France, it certainly wouldn't be like that. Q. What was the delay? JOHN ISNER: I needed to change clothes. I was soaking wet. That was it. Q. You have been involved in a lot of tough matches at the slams before and the tiebreak in the fourth set, could have gone to fifth. You bore up and played well. Played aggressive. Talk about that. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, and I was fine, you know. I have been in a tiebreaker a lot, as you guys know, but I think I had three different times Love‑30 in that fourth set, and there's so much pressure. I wasn't able to do it. In the tiebreaker I played great, and, you know, from 4‑3 down I hit two massive serves, and then I hit the best forehand I hit all match at 5‑4 in that tiebreaker, so I'm so happy I'm still not out there playing right now. Q. What did you need the trainer for? Is it something that you're concerned about for the rest of the tournament? JOHN ISNER: A little bit my hip flexor area. That's what kept me out of Winston‑Salem. You know, I've gotten to the point I have played so many matches this summer I'm a little beat up. Adrenaline takes over in those situations, and it did tonight. But it bothered me a little more tonight than it did my first match. But I have tomorrow to get ready, and I'll be ready to go. I don't anticipate it being an issue when the time comes. I do need to rest and I will do that after this tournament. Q. Back to the crowd, have you ever been in an atmosphere like that abroad or in the U.S.? JOHN ISNER: No. I mean, the crowd support, it was a great atmosphere, it was a lot of fun, I'm not saying it wasn't. You know, I played a similar match when I played Tommy Haas in Paris. I had about five people cheering for me, and those were the five people in my box. So the French people were cheering for the German there (laughter). I could say something else, but I'm not going to. No, it was fun overall. It was a lot of fun, and when the match finally ended, to be able to soak it in, was a lot of fun. Q. The cheering of "USA, USA" towards the end of the breaker, were you saying, I have been waiting for that one for a couple of hours? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I certainly had‑‑ I just had a lot of crowd support on my side. I had a college buddy of mine I noticed in the crowd, and in the opening point he was hammered. Every time they were chanting "Monfils" I could hear him, his voice is pretty booming, and he didn't like that too much (smiling). But, you know, no, once I got up I guess it was, yeah, 6‑4 in the tiebreaker, the USA chant was pretty cool. Q. After the match I saw you did a Hulk Hogan? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's more ‑‑yeah, you can call it that, yeah (smiling). Q. Is that the more Cam Newton? JOHN ISNER: Cam Newton. I'm a Panthers fan. Do you know the score of the game? Preseason. I'm not really that vested in it, but... Q. I can tell you the Jets won and the Giants lost. JOHN ISNER: Ready for the real thing to start. Q. With the crowd the way it was, I don't know if it was in your mind during the match, but as the fourth set went on, did you start thinking, you know, I need to get this over with or this could start getting a little weird? Was that on your mind at all? JOHN ISNER: I don't think that was on my mind, but for sure it could have gotten a little weird, even weirder had it gone five, but with the crowd being like it was regardless, I mean, I wanted to win in four very, very bad and he wanted to take it to a fifth very, very bad. I was fortunate enough to get out of there just before midnight. You know, it was a muggy night. These conditions are, for me, are extremely tough, you know, conditions, and temperature‑wise when the sun goes down, the temperature isn't bad but the humidity is rough. Takes a big toll on me. I will be ready to go in two days. Q. Panthers won 25‑10. Secondly, what is it about you and Monfils that brings out the best in each other? You have had epic matches in D.C. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, seventh time we played, and not once has anyone won in straight sets. We have played twice in a Grand Slam, and they were both four sets. I don't know. You know, a lot of times, when anyone that's ‑‑anyone that plays him, it's going to be a very exciting match, and just for whatever reason we always seem to bring the best out in each other, and we have always played in pretty big matches whether it's, you know‑‑ like you said, I won in D.C. It was a huge match. This was a huge match. And we always seem to get each other on, you know, very important matches. All of them have been on hard court thankfully. None of them have been on clay. I always enjoy playing him. When I knew I was playing him second round, I knew, for one, it was one of the tougher second rounds out there, hands down, but it was also something I was very much looking forward to. Q. When the crowd is going nuts like that, and Gaël is doing his kind of showtime thing on the other side of the court, what are you telling yourself to kind of refocus and tell yourself? JOHN ISNER: That's sort of how he is. You know, it's not to say he's not a great competitor. He enjoys atmospheres more than anyone else in the world. He wants to soak it up and play to the crowd more than anyone, really. That's just how he is. Like I said, he's a fun‑loving guy and enjoys playing matches like that. For me, I didn't want to get involved in a little hit‑and‑giggle thing with him and try and get going back and forth, where I just wanted to stay focused. I didn't want to keep it ‑‑I didn't want it to be too friendly out there even though he's a very good friend of mine. Q. You get a chance of revenge at Kohlschreiber. Talk about that a bit. JOHN ISNER: It's crazy, playing him in the third round just as I did last year at this event. That match last year was very disappointing for me how it went about. I sort of lost it ‑‑I lost it in the fifth set there, but he's extremely solid. He's been so solid for so long now. He's made his way through his first matches pretty easy, as well. Going to be a tough match. You know, I think I played him last year. I think his game plan against me is going to be, in a few days, a lot like it was last year. I feel like he, you know, focused on getting a high percentage of first serves in, taking a little bit off his first serve and sort of trying to grind me down that way, which he did last year. Maybe a few adjustments I will have to make, but I'm looking forward to it. Q. Can you imagine anybody else ever sort of pulling the crowd that much against a home country guy like Monfils? JOHN ISNER: I think he's the only guy that could do it. I mean, everyone knows ‑‑I mean, he's just very exciting how he plays and how he acts on the court. He gets the crowd involved. You know, if you purchase a ticket to watch him play, you're not going to go home disappointed. That's just how it is. Q. What do you think about men and women making the same money? Second, have you ever tried yoga? You're so big, see you moving like that. JOHN ISNER: No, they fought a while for it, and, you know, I'm fine with it, really, that they are making the same amount of money. A lot could be said that they don't maybe play as much as us, but at the same time they have‑‑ I feel like they have earned their way up to our spot, you know, at least at the same level as the men. So a lot of instances it doesn't take away from us. It's a win‑win for both sides. I'm fine with that. And yoga, yeah, I have done yoga before. I'm not a huge yoga guy. It's very hard for me being so big, but it's something that I have done before. Q. How confident were you in that fourth set tiebreak even when Gaël got up to the 4‑3 start? JOHN ISNER: I was ‑‑yeah, I was confident the whole way. I was up 2‑0, and he got it back. I missed a forehand by that much. But, you know, after those two serves, that's what saved the match for me. I mean, there were two serves, 4‑3 and 4‑All, they were pretty big. I have done that a lot in my career. So, you know, and then at 5‑4 I was telling myself I just wanted to be aggressive, because for the most part when we were rallying, I wasn't winning most of those points and I'm not going to. But when I was, you know, taking chances and being aggressive and coming to the net, I was having pretty good success. That's how I won the first set, and I wanted to step up and try to take my chance if a ball was short, and that's exactly what happened and I hit a great forehand at 5‑4. Q. One of your better volleys that you hit to win that last one. JOHN ISNER: It was a pretty good volley. He had to look at a passing shot that I think he probably makes more times than he misses, so I was actually a little bit surprised that he missed that. Very happy I didn't have to play one more point to win it. Q. Talk about the rise of the quality of the American players. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I think we're doing just fine. You saw Jack Sock had a good win today. He's going to have a great future. I don't know off the top of my head, but I think there are a handful of guys, Americans playing tomorrow, as well. I will be rooting them on tomorrow while I take care of my business to get ready for my match. Certainly not like it used to be in the '80s and '90s and early 2000s, but we're not too bad. 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
|