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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 9, 2014John IsnerINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA J. ISNER/N. Davydenko THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Good start. Get a match under your belt. Kind of getting back in your groove since the injury? JOHN ISNER: Uh‑huh. Yeah, it was a very good start. I was happy with how I played. You know, I felt my intentions were good out there. I played well. I created a lot of opportunities for myself on return, and that's really all I can ask for. So as far as that goes, very happy. Could have been a little bit cleaner, but all in all, I thought I played well. I served extremely well. You know, stayed aggressive for the most part. Happy to be through. These conditions are very good for me. Q. You've played well at this tournament before? JOHN ISNER: Uh‑huh. Q. It's U.S., hard courts, so a lot of things that make you feel comfortable. JOHN ISNER: Yeah. It's a situation that's very good for me. In the U.S., hard court that bounces high and pretty slow, and have the fans on my side, I can't ask for anything more. The conditions, for me, everything, not just the court, just everything. All the surroundings bodes extremely well for me. So I'm in a good place. Q. What's the level with the ankle? Is there pain? No pain? JOHN ISNER: No, there's no pain right now. So I was able to finally get over that. It took longer than I expected. I did not want to miss Davis Cup and I just wasn't able to go. It took a lot longer than expected, so I wasn't able to really train on the court. I could do some stuff in the gym and whatnot. It set me back a little, and so I'm sort of playing catchup a little. But, you know, as I said, you know, I'm back working with Mike and we're doing some good things. I'm able to put work in, which is the important thing. You know, when you're hurt, you can't really do that. Q. Are you feeling any additional pressures as kind of the last standard bearer of men's U.S. tennis at the moment? JOHN ISNER: No, I don't. I guess yesterday wasn't a great day for our American men. But, you know, selfishly I'm just worried about myself, really. I certainly want all those guys to do well. But at the same time, it's not my concern at all. My concern is myself and just trying to keep moving forward and keep getting better and get back to where I want to be. Q. Do you have any specific goals, John? Are you focusing on certain tournaments or do you have a ranking goal? JOHN ISNER: No, I don't. I haven't had goals like that in a while. My goals are just to, you know, just to go out there and, you know, do the right things off the court and try my best to do the right things on the court, especially on the match court. If I can do that, things tend to generally go pretty well for me. I'm just, you know, trying to do all the right things and take care of myself as best as possible and see what comes of that. Q. It's not often that players get to play on new courts, especially as big as the one you played on today. Can you talk about that experience? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, that court was amazing. You know, the surroundings are spectacular. The place was pretty full. Had a lot of support on my side. This tournament is second to none, really. This place is incredible. You know, they put on a great show. Larry has done so much for this tournament, and the fans always seem to come out. It's an incredible week, the weather perfect, and all the best players are here. So put all that together, and it makes for a spectacular event. Q. Obviously this is just incredible here, the ambience, everyone knows that. But also on court where you're always asked this, but you know what the results have been here and Melbourne, SanDiego, what the rankings are. You're the only one to reach a final last year. Truth be told, do you think we're in crisis? JOHN ISNER: I don't ‑‑I said earlier, I mean, it's certainly been better, that's for sure, but as I said, it's none of my concern. I mean, I'm proud of what I've done in my career. And, you know, I'm just worried about myself. The other guys will‑‑ I believe they are going to start to pick it up. They are too talented not to. For me, I'm just going to, you know, keep working as hard as I can and do everything I can to get myself better and cheer for those other guys but not put too much stock into it, either. Q. You have had enough injuries in your career, and even some freakish ones. As you get older is it easier or harder to put those behind you and get back to work? Is it more or less frustrating as you get older? JOHN ISNER: As I get older‑‑ when I first came on tour and people were telling me, Oh, wait until you get 27, 28 years old, you're going to start feeling stuff. I'm like, Oh, yeah, you're full of crap. But it's true. Good lord, you wake up and everything is a little bit more stiff. I have learned and put a lot of work in with my trainer. You know, just takes a little bit longer to get me going now than it did before. But at the same time, I have had these things pop up. I can't remember a year where I just went through the whole year unscathed. So I have learned how to deal with injuries a little bit better. And I'm a lot more experienced. I think, you know, luckily for me I haven't had anything really catastrophic. It's always just things that, you know, kept me off the court for a few weeks here or there. So at first they are never easy to deal with, but they have become easier as I've gotten older. Q. It's pretty tough out there, but you have had a lot of good advisors, [] Manny, Mike, Andy Roddick, so forth. If you could point to maybe one piece of advice that's been really important for you in your career. JOHN ISNER: Particular advice? I don't know that, but I think the most ‑‑I mean, I guess, you know, looking at when my mother was battling cancer, I think that was very important for me. I was in college, so kind of put a whole new perspective on things. So, you know, I think she's really my hero seeing how she fought through that. So any time things get tough for me or I get in a rut or I'm not playing too well or I'm hurt, it could always be worse. I saw firsthand the pain and anguish she was going through. She was able to overcome that, so she's a big inspiration for me. Q. Have you talked to Hutchins at all? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I speak to him a lot. He's an incredible story. You can't find a nicer guy, you know, really in the world. It's a shame something like that had to happen to him. But he's overcome that and he's back on tour. It's just an incredible story. Q. As a fellow big server you had a chance to go up against Cilic in Delray, and he's had some career highs and serving stats. Did you notice anything different how he's serving and how he's playing? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I felt like his serve is just coming off a little bit bigger, which helps, you know. Get extra MPH on your serve it helps. Like a pitcher, get a couple MPH on his fast ball it's a huge difference. So far this year he's won a lot of matches, and I think when I played him he was tough to beat in the very big points because he's extremely confident. He's playing very well during those points. So, you know, winning breeds confidence, and he's certainly confident right now. He's on a roll. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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