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ROLAND GARROS

June 1, 2017

John Isner

Paris, France

J. ISNER/P. Lorenzi

6-3, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. He's obviously a pretty dirt-bally kind of guy, so how happy are you to get through that in straights?
JOHN ISNER: It was a good win, but I certainly felt like there was some things I could have done better. But I knew he was going to be a tough competitor and that's exactly what he was.

I also believe he was the first person not to be seeded here so -- and he was right on the verge of that.

It was a tough match, but I did a lot of things well out there. And, ultimately, my serve carried me to victory today, which a lot of times it does.

So I'm happy to move on for sure and I'm happy to get it over with early. Physically, I feel great. So I'm just looking forward to my next match.

Q. Sort of along the same lines just in terms of energy and effort expended to get to the third round, you've got to be pretty pleased.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, very pleased. This is not the case a lot of times for me. So right now, I'm sitting -- I mean, I probably have 48 hours off now. So I'm good. And physically, as I just said, I feel great and ready to keep going.

Q. Would you be up for, if they had an option like Wimbledon does, of having a clay seeding formula here?
JOHN ISNER: That's a good question. No, I wouldn't.

Q. I don't think it would change you personally much.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I just think, you know, there's a lot more clay court tournaments than there are grass tournaments. So I think guys can make their hay on clay even after Wimbledon, whereas a lot of players like me are done on clay after this tournament. You're not going to see me in Umag anytime soon.

So I don't think so. That's a pretty good question, though.

Q. You have been coming for a few years now. Do you feel that you're enjoying the visits more or do you still come here with trepidation thinking, Oh, it's the French Open?
JOHN ISNER: No. No, no, no. I enjoy this. This is -- it's a Grand Slam. And, on top of that, we're in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

So no. I absolutely enjoy coming here especially -- and, you know, I have said this a bunch before. There's going to be a time when I'm not competing in this tournament. I don't know when that's going to be. But for the time being, as I still have more French Opens, this one and then more French Opens ahead of me, I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can and I'm going to soak it up. So I'm loving my time here.

Q. Early on in your career you had statistically -- like, almost all your good results were in the US and occasionally New Zealand or something, which isn't that foreign of a place.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, they speak English.

Q. Exactly. So I'm just wondering when you became Euro-Johnny?
JOHN ISNER: I don't, know.

Q. Because you've been the Bercy finals now, Rome semi.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah.

Q. It's also un-American.
JOHN ISNER: It's very. It's very un-Americana of me.

I don't know. You're right. I mean, I'm playing better in Europe than I am -- especially this year, than I have in America. I don't know what it is. Maybe there's a little more pressure in America or whatnot.

But I think as I've matured, started to embrace the European culture a little bit more. I mean, I won't be living here when I'm done with tennis, but I love it over here, especially when you can't not love it here in Paris. It's amazing.

So I don't know. I'm just enjoying my time more and just being a lot more relaxed about things and maybe not putting so much pressure on myself when I come over and fly all this way. But I'm just having a good time. And I'm playing especially well in this city, so I'll try to keep it going.

Q. You said you weren't putting pressuring on yourself. Was there a moment where you could actually gauge that moment where you said, actually, I can take it a bit easier here, or I really don't have to do that well here?
JOHN ISNER: No. I think -- well, this year it was Rome. I think prior to that tournament, I had -- you know, everyone wants to start the year off well. And, of course, there's always pressure, but you don't want to try to let it affect you. And then when you start putting the result ahead of the process, you get ahead of yourself and that's not good.

I think early on in this year I was just so worried about winning and just thinking about winning that I lost focus on a lot of things. And that's one of the main reasons I lost a lot of close matches. And now, since I've come over here and started in Rome, I've won a lot of close matches and won a lot of tie-breaks in a row now. So I'm in a pretty good groove there.

A lot of times when I'm confident and relaxed on the court in those pressure situations, I'm going to be a pretty tough out. But when I'm not so confident and not so relaxed, I tense up and my balls fall short and everything, it just sort of unravels.

Q. There's a record number of guys over 30 in the third round here. And do you see yourself playing, you know, past 35 if the body holds up, or do you have a different timeline than when you first came on the tour?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah. I mean, look, it's all about my body holding up as you just said. So if at 35, 36 I feel strong and I feel fit and I'm ranked pretty high, I'll still be out here playing. Tennis is an amazing sport and it's given so much to me. So I want to play it as long as I possibly can.

But, again, that's -- the thing of that is my body holding up. I don't know any reason why it wouldn't. I take care of myself pretty well and will continue to do that as I get older.

But for me, singles. I won't be playing doubles at 35, 36. If my body does maybe sort of let's me down a little bit, then I'll probably call it. But as long as I'm healthy and feeling fit and eager, I'll be out there.

Q. When was the last time you flew coach class?
JOHN ISNER: Oh, domestically I'll fly coach sometimes. I fly American Airlines a lot. If I don't get the upgrade, I'll sit in coach. If I get the exit row, that's fine.

But internationally, no, I haven't. It's been a while.

Q. How do you fit in a coach seat?
JOHN ISNER: In the exit row, it's fine. It's not the width of the seat. You know, it's the legroom that I need. So as long as I have that legroom, I'm good.

Q. I think it's Khachanov next. It looks like he's up.
JOHN ISNER: Did he win?

Q. I don't know if he's finished. He was up two sets and a break?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I saw that.

Q. So assuming it's Khachanov, I don't know if you two have played or how much you know about him. He's one of these NextGen guys they keep pushing on us.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, you hear his name a lot.

But I practiced with him one time in Vienna last year. It seems to me that -- well, he hits the ball extremely hard and extremely flat. That is the speed he wants to play at, and he must be doing it pretty well out there today. I mean, probably outhitting Berdych, so that's pretty impressive.

If I do play him, it will be a tough match. He's a big guy. He serves well. And as I just said, he hits the ball so hard off of both wings. So if it's him, I'm going to need to serve well, of course, and I'm going to need to compete and play well if I want to win.

Q. Going back to the plane question, what is the expression of your fellow passengers when you step into the aisle?
JOHN ISNER: It's usually -- the passengers are okay if they're all seated, but it's usually the flight attendant. When you first board, everyone is fine, and then I got to duck under that thing. So I sort of stick out like a sore thumb.

But a lot of times the flight attendants will have pity on me if I don't have a good seat and they'll bump someone. A lot of times if I'm not in the exit row and there's some 5-foot-1 person with their feet dangling not even touching the ground sitting there in the exit row, the flight attendant will move that person for me because it seems like the humane thing to do.

Q. Khachanov is married. He's only 20, but he's married, and I think Taylor Fritz is married too. And you're not.
JOHN ISNER: No. I could be close, between you and me.

Q. I guess what are your sort of -- in terms of your timeline of life, how do you sort of plan life events? I know like, you know, Serena is obviously missing tour to have a baby right now, but you wouldn't have to do that biologically.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, yeah exactly. Yeah, I think for, obviously, males it's different, you know, than the female side of things. I'm imagining most of the players in that locker room do want to have a family eventually. But it's tough. You're playing this sport. It's pretty much a year-round sport.

Most of these players don't have the luxury that Serena has to have won so many Slams and can probably take time off and come back and still be pretty dominant.

But for me personally, I'm six years older than my girlfriend. So we've always had that age gap. But, you know, as I've gotten older, I have sort of realized that, you know, it's not all about tennis. And I did want to go to the next stage of my life, and I think I'm progressing there.

So the time frame of it has taken a little bit longer maybe than I would have liked, but again, tennis has obviously kept me busy, and I haven't had much time off in the last ten years. I've played 20-some tournaments every year for the last ten years and it's pretty tough. But I'm getting closer.

Q. When you're in Paris, is there anything in particular that you look forward to eating or drinking here as opposed to other tour stops?
JOHN ISNER: Drinking, no. I mean, when I hear that I think alcohol. But, I mean, I have a glass of red wine here or there but nothing as far as that goes.

There's an Indian place, Annapurna, I go to. I don't know if you have been there before. It's pretty good. And, of course, I've been to the L'Entrecote. I've been to both of those places. L'Entrecote I know is a very touristy spot, but I still go. It's very good.

And L'Avenue has become, like, the popular tennis player spot. So I was there, like, five nights ago or something and there was four or five other tennis players there.

Now that I have the time and got to play first on and it's only 3:00, I'm going to pick my spot wisely tonight.

Q. Is there a particular dish or kind of French food?
JOHN ISNER: No. The food here is good. It's outrageously expensive. But I won today so I might treat myself.

I have to order two meals by the time and I have spent easily 100 Euros on myself at dinner before. But I got to fuel my body, so that's what I do.

Q. On the same topic, is there anything that you would like to have but you resist because you think, you know, as I'm playing, I don't want this in my body?
JOHN ISNER: Oh, yeah. Of course. I mean, ice cream and crepes in the morning, as good as they are. Maybe when this tournament is over I'll indulge before I hop on the flight. But right now, anything sweet like that.

Actually, I'm lucky. One of my sweet tooth is I like dark, dark chocolate, which actually they say is good for you in moderation. So I have that a little bit every night. I'm not a milk chocolate person.

Q. You said you eat two main courses each meal?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah. Well, everyone in Europe is really skinny. I think that's because their portion sizes are very small. And so for me, you know, I get -- I order a nice steak and it's always very good, but it's like this big (smiling). I'm used to going to Texas Roadhouse back in America getting a 36-ouncer.

I do actually -- as good as the food is in Europe, especially in Paris, I miss the food back home. You can't beat a good Applebee's or Carrabba's Italian Grill. I do miss that a little bit.

Q. I think you're the first person to say that you can't beat a good Applebee's in Paris.
JOHN ISNER: It's good. It's good. Two-for-one deals.

Q. On a totally different topic, I don't know if you followed the Margaret Court controversy that's been going on. And Martina Navratilova and Madison Keys and also Andy sort of hinted at wanting to get the arena name changed. I don't know if you would support that movement or how you would come down on this topic.
JOHN ISNER: That's tough. I mean, I think her beliefs in traditional marriage, she has every right to believe that. And I totally respect that anyone who has that belief has the right to voice their opinion. I don't particularly believe in -- of course, I believe in traditional marriage, but I believe in two guys and two women can also marry.

But, again, I just wish she wouldn't have been so outspoken about it. The fact that she believes in traditional marriage is good on her, but she was a little bit too outspoken about it even when she wasn't really -- she keeps on harping on it. So it's brought a lot of negative attention to her and brought a lot of negative attention to the WTA as well.

So I mean, no need to bash Casey Dellacqua like that. She's an awesome person I know a little bit and her partner. And now they have two kids, about to have two kids or whatever it is.

So I think she probably should have just kept it to herself, but I do respect her opinion a lot. As for the name change on the court, we'll see what happens. A lot of times when stuff like this gets momentum it, could happen. Would I be in favor of that? I'm sort of indifferent.

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