15/03/2012 09:54 CEST - INTERVISTE

J.Isner - 14.03.2012 -

Q. This week there has been a lot of talk about Milos Raonic and comparing him to your game. Do you see some similarities?
JOHN ISNER: Um, yeah, I do. I mean, we both obviously serve very well. That's our best shot.
After that, I think we try to play aggressive from the baseline and try to get into the net.
And we're both big guys. There definitely are some similarities.

Q. When you go into a match like that, I mean, are you thinking like everyone talks at this level about that's a match I have to win?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's one of those you know, I didn't really take that mentality. If I weren't to win today then it wasn't meant to be. For the most part, it was a match that was on my racquet. He's sort of a you know, I've never played him before and he's sort of a throwback player.
He sort of takes the air out of a ball. It was a different match, and I certainly made some mistakes today. But for the most part I played pretty well.

Q. How much does playing doubles keep up your singles matches, if at all? I mean, you're playing them on the same day.
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, it's great. It's good practice. Most times when I play a singles match I tend to play better in doubles than, you know, if I just had doubles.
So that's what happened today. I felt Sam and I played really well. I thought I played really well in doubles. It's fun. Events like this, you know, the big events, especially the Masters Series, I always want to play doubles in 'em.

Q. Did you do that in college tennis, play doubles and singles in the same day?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, we did that all the time. The schedule has worked out great for me so far this week where I've never I haven't had a day that's completely off, I don't believe.
So, I mean, it's either been, you know, singles and doubles or just singles. So I enjoy it.

Q. Is it odd for you being the No. 2 American and not being on the center stadium and only playing matches on 2?
JOHN ISNER: What's the question?

Q. Being on the verge of top 10, not having yet played on the stadium and having won three matches already?
JOHN ISNER: So what about it?

Q. Does it make it harder for you switching in the later rounds?
JOHN ISNER: Oh, oh, no. A tennis court is a tennis court. It'll be fine. It's like the old Hoosiers mentality.

Q. You're the last American guy in singles, and now you and Sam in doubles.
JOHN ISNER: Yes. Um, I guess Ryan just lost, so that means

Q. No, he just saved three match points. It's 4 5 in the second.
JOHN ISNER: Harrison is still in it. No, but for me being one of them, it is only gonna be well, if I were to play Harrison then we're guaranteed someone in the semifinals.
No, I love going far in the events in the U.S., so...
And the crowd is definitely behind, you know, us Americans. It's very, very special to play here.

Q. How much better a player are you now compared to this time last year?
JOHN ISNER: I'm a lot, lot better. This time last year especially I was in a little bit of a funk. I wasn't playing well at all.
So, you know, full 365 days later I'm a lot better player. I'm more confident. Feel like I have more variety. Just better all around. I'm gonna keep improving.

Q. If Ryan pulls it out, can you talk about that matchup? And if not, talk about playing Simon.
JOHN ISNER: If Ryan pulls it out, that will be a lot of fun playing against him. I think I'm scheduled for 7:00 tomorrow. I think I played him once a few years ago, and obviously he's gotten so much better. And so have I. As far as Xs and Os, I don't even know.
And with Gilles, I played him US Open last year in a very tight match. He makes you hit so many balls. He's ranked high for a reason. He sort of frustrates his opponents. It's also a different way of playing. He's very good.
Either way I'm gonna have my hands full.

Q. It's been a while since we have seen a couple of Americans at that stage if Ryan were to come through, no?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah. It would be a lot of fun to play him in a quarterfinal here.

Q. In ATP tennis you're out there all by yourself. It's your strokes and your mind. So many big matches. When you're in really tough spots out there, what's the self talk inside your head? What's the mental process?
JOHN ISNER: I don't know. Just to stay as focused as possible. And for me, it's just not when it's not going well I try not to get down on myself too much. When I do that, that's when I sort of lose control.
For me, it's just keeping, you know, a solid mental attitude when I'm on the court. And if I can do that, you know, the only way I'm gonna lose, I feel like, is if my opponent flat out beats me. I just try not to beat myself.

Q. Is that something you can work on? And also, when your mind is going, Hey, you're such a jerk, how do you deal with that?
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, you have to try to stop it. But there have been some matches where I have been a head case out there and things didn't go my way. So you have to learn from your mistakes.
That's where I have you know, I have people on my team, especially my coach, CB, that he's there watching all my practice, watching all my matches, so he can he always tends to tell me the right things and tell me the right things to think about on the court.
So it's just trying to make a solid conscious effort of not letting things go haywire out there.

Q. When you beat Mahut at Wimbledon you were serving ahead in that final set, and people said that gave you a psychological advantage. Do you think there is an advantage to serving first in the final set of a match?
JOHN ISNER: I think it does. Yeah, especially with me. You know, if I'm able to sort of stay ahead 1 0, 2 1, 3 2 type of thing, it puts a lot of pressure on my opponent. Essentially if they were to lose serve, then the set, you know, could be over.
I think, you know, it obviously whoever is serving down that one game, it puts the pressure squarely back on them, and then, you know, it's a must win game for that person. So I think serving first is big.

Q. Similarly, on TV Justin has been talking about how with your serve it builds a pressure in the course of a match for obvious reasons. Could you talk about that factor? Do you feel that's something that you can sort of impose, I don't know, psychologically on opponents?
JOHN ISNER: I don't know. I mean, yeah, sometimes psychologically opponents can be frustrated with my serve if I'm serving well. When I'm serving well at a high percentage and hitting my spots, it's gonna be tough for anyone to break me.
That's when normally I'm playing my best obviously is when I'm serving my best. It's a big weapon to have, and it puts pressure on them. Like I said before, if they just one little hiccup on their serve, the set could easily be over.
So for me it's a huge advantage, and I think psychologically on some of my opponents, you know, it does play in my favor.

Q. If I could ask, there has been so many great players in recent history. But for the fun of it, if you can go back and play just anyone you've never played, any of the legends, who would you single out as a great experience?
JOHN ISNER: Hmm, that's a good one.
Probably Andre. I'd like to play against him. Because we have different styles, I guess, it would be fun to see how I would match up against him. Probably not well.

Q. How do you think you would do about arguably maybe the best returner...
JOHN ISNER: Yeah, that's the thing, just to see how the match would shape out with me serving well and him returning so well.