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DAVIS CUP FIRST ROUND: USA VS SWITZERLANDFebruary 3, 2017John IsnerJim CourierBirmingham, Alabama J. ISNER/H. Laaksonen 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You hit 500 aces, a milestone since you've been part of the Davis Cup team. Tell us a little bit about achieving that during the set. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I was wondering, because I heard them say 500. I was wondering what that was. Thank you for clarifying that. I had no idea I was close to that in Davis Cup play. You know, I've been fortunate enough to be able to play in a lot of singles matches on the Davis Cup team. I guess that's a pretty cool number to achieve. More than anything, I'm just happy I was able to get the win today. I thought the crowd was great, and we're up 2-0. We're in a pretty good spot. Q. John, as the match wore on there were times you didn't seem to be quite comfortable, particularly in the beginning. How did you right yourself? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I'll take the film of that first set and just throw it in the fire, delete that one. I think more than anything I was a little bit nervous, and that was affecting my footwork quite a lot. With me being so big and when my footed work is not sharp, it can be ugly. It was in the first set. Jim stayed on me to stay positive, even though I wasn't feeling very positive out there. I think that's actually what tilted the match in my favor a little bit. Certainly could have been cleaner, but Davis Cup you ties throw out rankings and whatnot, it's tough touch out there in these matches, so I'm happy to get the win. Q. Jim, the message you were trying to impart to him simply to be positive, or was there any strategy, such as type of shots that you may have been trying to impart? CAPTAIN COURIER: When you're nervous your racquet doesn't move through the strike zone as it does when you're confident. Jack had the same problem too in his match in the first set. So these guys play their best tennis when they're thinking offensively and being offensive on the court. You have to be positive for all that to come through, so that certainly was a piece of the message. But for John it's just a question of getting comfortable on the court, doing the things he knows he is capable of doing, and executing his shots. He ended up doing that quite well. He played a terrific tiebreak are. That was an impressive finish, because that fourth set got a little bit hairy at the end for sure. Q. John, talk about that tiebreaker and getting into that tiebreaker. That fourth set was so tight, wasn't it? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, you know, I was of course feeling pretty good winning the second and third sets pretty easily. First game of the fourth set I had 15-40, which I really think I could have blown the match completely open there if I break; I didn't. He might have gained some confidence from that point on and he made me work on a lot of my service games in the fourth set. Then we get into the tiebreaker, you know, I won the first point on his serve, and then two big serves later I'm up 3-0. I was feeling pretty good at that point and just happy. Any time you get in tiebreaker it's pretty stressful, especially in Davis Cup. Getting up 5-0 takes a bit of the pressure off. Q. You said comfortable in tiebreakers. Are you not comfortable in there yet? I don't remember seeing any matches where you don't go into a tiebreaker... JOHN ISNER: No, I'm comfortable, but I don't win them all by any means. I mean, you know, going into a fourth set tiebreaker anything can happen. I could very easily still be out on the court right now; glad I'm not. So I think everyone is glad I'm not. CAPTAIN COURIER: Everyone. All the media assembled as well. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, very glad I'm not still out there. It was a pretty good tiebreaker. I think having that in my back pocket now can help me going forward with my tournaments coming up, and hopefully some more Davis Cup ties in the future. Q. John, how important was that second game of the third set that went ten plus minutes and you had to save the three break points? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, that was very important because I was up 1-0, a break, and if I consolidate there I would be feeling very, very good about my situation in that match. He made my play. I didn't get many free points. I think I saved three break points. Any time you win a game like that on serve it should give you some confidence going forward. I think it did. Went up 2-0 and I was able to win the set 6-2. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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