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ROLAND GARROSMay 30, 2014John IsnerPARIS, FRANCE J. ISNER/T. Robredo THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. You've gotta be pretty pleased with that result. JOHN ISNER: Yeah. Yeah, very. Yeah, there was ‑‑that guy is really good, very good, especially on clay. So for me it's a very good win. Happy with how the match ended and very happy with how I served, obviously. You know, I think it could have been better throughout the match. But, you know, just as my first two matches, I'm moving on, so very happy with that and look forward to my next one. Q. How does the body feel? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, it's a little stiff right now, but, you know, once you stretch and get a massage and hit a little bit tomorrow and do the same thing over again, I mean, I'll be fine in two days. Right now I don't feel great, but... Q. A Masters reference. I'm just wondering, a lot of times the two sports get paired together, both individual sports and there's a country club background. How much easier do you think golfers have it? JOHN ISNER: I mean, yeah, their earning potential is a lot longer than ours is, which I'm a little bit jealous of. You have guys over 50 competing for Grand Slams; obviously that would never happen in our sport. You know, I think their sport is extremely mentally taxing, so much pressure riding on little margins out there. They are similar in a lot of aspects. Tennis is, you know, probably more physical. But another thing, golf, just as in tennis, it's so deep. I mean, there are so many good players out there. I mean, thousands of guys that can shoot under par on any given day. The margins are really thin out there. Q. Do you feel like you control your own destiny more in tennis? Golf is almost like a race where you can't stop the other people. Here you have a chance to stop whoever. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, in tennis you've just got to be better than your opponent on that day and you don't worry about anything else. Whereas in golf, you know, you're just not really competing against anyone, but you can shoot a good round. Five guys can shoot an unbelievable round and you're behind the eight ball a little bit. Q. Is there a sort of cumulative, maybe mental drain at all when you're in a match like that and you do get some break chances but you can't convert and they sort of add up? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, no, extremely. You know, it's very mentally taxing out there. It's obviously very physical, too. But the more tired I got out there the better I started to play. That actually happens a lot with me, because I don't have as much energy so I just kind of have to go for it. I don't want to run around side to side. But I'm happy with that last game at 5‑All or whatever it was. So a fifth set out there, I don't know. I don't know if that would have been too good for me. Q. Talk about him a little bit. He's out there for a long time. He missed basically not at all for that whole match. How does a guy like that do that? What's it like playing a guy like that? JOHN ISNER: I thought he played a very smart match. You know, he was making a lot of first serves and just doing that, and then beating me from the back. That was his game plan, and he did it extremely well. On top of that, you're right, he didn't miss too many balls at all. But, you know, I think some of it was ‑‑ you know, I was landing balls too short, and he has such good footwork running on his backhand and staying on the baseline using his forehand. And he did that extremely well today. Really, he didn't miss too much at all. But, you know, I thought he played, like I said, I thought he played a smart match. Obviously you guys know my matches are super thin margins, and today was the case. I don't think I was the better player out there. I just happened to win. Q. You have spoken about some of your problems you have had in European venues playing here. Just talk about sort of winning on clay against a guy who is a pretty darn baseliner, Spanish guy and going really deep into the French, is that kind of a feel‑good moments for you, redemption? Just talk about that. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it is. I'm in the second week of the tournament and that's nice. It's been a while since I have been in the second week of any Grand Slam. I'm happy about that. In the last two years I have always said that I want to improve on my Grand Slam results and I haven't really done it. Here I have. The further you keep progressing in this tournament, the field gets smaller. I still believe I can keep on going. It's extremely tough. Each match is going to be tougher and tougher. But I'm very happy right now. Being in the second week here is a very good accomplishment for me. Q. Is your own play improving match to match? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I think so. I still think I can definitely play better, and I'm going to have to. I think what I'm doing right now, I don't know that it's sustainable right now, to be honest. I have to get better, simple as that. Q. There were times when you were up two sets to none when Robredo had won something like 13 or 14 more total points in the match. JOHN ISNER: That's what I'm saying. Q. Did you have a sense? You could feel that sort of? JOHN ISNER: For sure. I know he had a lot of break points, didn't convert them more than me. You know, I was able to win those first two sets. You know, but that's just how it goes sometimes. He was, like I said, he probably was the better player out there. He might have won more points than me, period, and lost ‑‑there you go. You know, only won one set. It's kind of crazy. I'll take it, but it's, like I said, it needs to get a little better. Q. On the women's side, top three seeds are out already, and third round is not even over. Do you ever wish that could happen on the men's side? Because that never happens. JOHN ISNER: Last year at Wimbledon, I was in that section that Rafa and Roger, I think I was the highest seed when those guys went out and unfortunately I got hurt. It doesn't happen too often on the men's side, but I guess it did last year at Wimbledon. No, you know, I mean, in order to win a Grand Slam, you've seen, you've got to go through at the very minimum two of the top guys. That's what it seems like, they're always there. Q. How would you describe the clay here? What makes it special? How dirty does it leave you on your clothes? JOHN ISNER: Dirty? Yeah, it's great clay. I mean, it's probably the best in the world, I think. I mean, they do such a good job keeping the courts in very good shape. More than that, I mean, just as in every Grand Slam, I think it's the atmosphere that really makes this tournament. You know, really got a global audience watching this event for us. So, yeah, the clay here, you know, it's not something I play on too much, but it's something I enjoy playing on. And, yeah, I get extremely dirty, but luckily they have great laundry service in the locker room and I just turn it in and don't have to deal with it. Q. You said on a few occasions when the subject of American tennis came up, you don't really care what other people are doing or what historical lows have been reached. Does the reverse apply here? You have broken the second week streak that goes back to Roddick. Does that not matter or... JOHN ISNER: Yeah, I mean, that's cool for me. It's not something I think about too much, but at the same time, I'm going to really be pulling on Jack and Donald tomorrow. It would be pretty nice to sock it to all you guys, we have three guys in the round of 16. It's doable, too. I think they have obviously very tough matches, but very winnable matches, as well. It would be nice to have three of us in the round of 16. I'll be cheering hard for those guys. Q. Fun little question. Do you view the media as sort of ragging on you guys or just telling it like it is? In terms of American tennis, what's your view on the job we do? JOHN ISNER: No, I was kidding. You guys do a great job. You should talk about that, you know, because this is, you know, there have been some times ‑‑right now there is only one player in the top 50 in America, for America right now, and that's pretty bad. So, I mean, you guys should talk about that. But like I have always said, that there are some guys coming up that are very good, and I think we're seeing that, especially with a guy like Jack. Q. Talk about Jack's game for a minute. It's got some pop. JOHN ISNER: It translates very well to clay, actually. He's got a weapon with his forehand that is extremely tough. I mean, it's world class. He's athletic, I think he can get in a lot better shape, he's got a lot of room to grow. And he's so young, he's 21. But he has that forehand on his side, which is, it's phenomenal. I mean, I've practiced and played against him. It's a big shot. Q. Can you speak about the thought of playing tiebreaks? You already played eight here in Roland Garros. How demanding is it? How different is it from your normal game? JOHN ISNER: Yeah, for me, it's a situation I have been in before, and it's also a situation I think that favors me a little bit and I have exhibited that this week so far. It's ‑‑I'm always pretty confident when I get in that situation, and I think it's shown so far. But at the same time, you know, I could, you know, I could be home right now on my couch in Florida and not talking to you guys, because my matches have been very, very close. Fortunately for me I have been able to pull through on all of them. If it gets to that situation again, as this tournament progresses, I will be confident. Q. Courier and Higueras in a piece we did this week were both pretty critical of younger guys' work ethic, not all of them but a number of them, saying they didn't understand what it took to get to the top and really had to up their game in order to make a real impact. Do you agree with that? It's clear from the rankings when you're not making to the top, why would these guys not think there is more required? JOHN ISNER: I think those guys probably have a pretty good point there. You know, I mean, it probably is a little frustrating for Jim especially, given ‑‑I mean, the staple of his game was how hard he worked and how good a shape he was in and he outcompeted the guys on the court. Obviously he was extremely talented. He was a bulldog out there. Might be a little frustrating for him. He probably sees it a little bit. He's our Davis Cup captain. But, you know, I think these guys ‑‑I think they are working harder. Jack, for instance, I don't know if you all know, he moved to Tampa where I live. I think that will be very, very good for him, and he likes it so far. You know, he's a good friend of mine, so I'm going to help him out as much as I can. He realizes that his career is, you know, it's just starting up, but it's also pretty short at the same time. I think a guy like Jack is starting to work harder and I think he's showing the results of that, as well. Q. Are you surprised that they don't get it? Because obviously you just look at the rankings and see who's up at the top. JOHN ISNER: Like who, like the younger guys, you're saying? Q. Younger guys. JOHN ISNER: You know, I don't think you can attribute it all to their lack of work ethic. These guys work hard. These guys can probably work a little bit harder, but at the same time it's very tough out there right now, and the guys at the top of the game seem like they are 26, 27 years old. They have a lot of room to grow. You know, it's up to them to go out there and work hard and work smart and it's really ‑‑it's their career, and they've got to make the most of it. But I think these guys ‑‑they're not ‑‑it's not as bad as you guys may think. They've put some work into it. Q. Change of gear, I know you have been close with James and there was that terrible tragedy at his house. JOHN ISNER: Yeah. Q. Have you spoken to James? Can you share a little bit what his response was? JOHN ISNER: Yeah. No, I have. I live in that neighborhood, too. It kind of hit home to me. I mean, I was in Madrid I think when it happened. So weird and so sad. You know, as for James, you know, he actually didn't personally know any of that family, but it was just a bizarre situation. It's horrible that happened to the neighborhood I live in, because I live extremely close to that house. It is what it is, and I think James, he's dealing with it, he's got to deal with all the insurance and stuff like that. It was just a horrible tragedy. Q. You're on the road and you hear about something like that happening in your 'hood. I imagine it's a pretty quiet, pretty refined place. Just talk about how you deal with that when you're in Madrid. JOHN ISNER: Yeah, well, I actually got off the court of a match and I got all these text messages. I was like, What? What are these guys talking about? So, yeah, I mean, it didn't really affect me too much. I have a roommate that was living there and telling me what is going on, the neighborhood was on lockdown, trying to figure out what was going on. Just very sad. And the neighborhood is actually very safe. I mean, what happened couldn't be prevented no matter where it was. It definitely is shaking up the neighborhood a lot. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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