John Isner
Tennis is a funny sport.
It's very important to be rested.
You cannot just play tournament after tournament like maybe I did when I was 23, 24 years old.
Davis Cup is a completely different animal.
In any match, making a lot of first serves is very important, especially for me.
I know where I'm ranked, but I don't look at it that much, I don't study it that much. You really can't look at it that way, you've got to try to win as many matches as you can, and it's cliche, but you've got to take it one at a time.
When you're out on the court, you're fighting against yourself and it can be tough.
I always have to play very aggressive on the court. It's something that's easier said than done.
There's a lot of times I'll just play too passive and since I'm not going to play defense as well as most guys can, I can't get away with passive play.
I grew up in a nice neighborhood in Greensboro, N.C., which is not too big, but definitely not a small town.
When I fly overseas, I usually fly business class. If not, my knees are going to be at my chin.
I always ask for the exit row when flying. Airlines are pretty accommodating and most of the time I'll get it.
I try not to eat too much, but I always get hungry before a match. I make sure I have enough fuel in my body. I'll eat pasta and a little bit of protein usually. I'm pretty much eating a full meal.
I felt a ton of pressure in '08. A lot of great things were expected of me right out of the gate, and I brought some of that on myself with those great early results. But I wasn't a good enough player to make a run every fourth or fifth tournament. I wasn't as good a player as my ranking indicated.
Up until I was a junior at Georgia, I felt that when all was said and done, I'd at least have a college degree to fall back on when tennis was finished.
We never got much in the way of material things, but if you can be spoiled by good cooking, my mom spoiled me three times a day all my life.
I was playing 60, 70 matches a year in college. In the pros, unless you're winning, you're not playing that many.
You know, Slams are tough. It's the most physical, in my opinion. You're playing three out of five.
My confidence sort of comes and goes very quickly.
For the most part I consider myself a mentally strong player.
You're going to lose points and gain points throughout the year.
I'm not really focused on my ranking.
I stopped eating airplane food; it's not that good.
I try to bring a lot of water on the plane with me and eat a really good meal.
I've learned how to sleep on airplanes. When I'm taking a trans-Atlantic flight or going to a different continent, I will always read because reading puts me to sleep. When you watch a movie, you have all that light coming to your eyes, but with reading, I can't get through 15 or 20 pages.
Usually I'm traveling for tennis, so the most important thing for me is to not get jet lag.
People think when you're struggling and not winning matches it's because you're not working hard. That's the biggest misnomer in tennis.
I was always a late bloomer.
I was always so big, it took me a long time to grow into my body.
I always knew that my best tennis was going to be in my late 20s.
My theory is that I'm just closer to the sun than everyone else. I weigh more than everyone else, I'm taller than everyone else. When it's really humid and hot outside it's going to take a bigger toll on me.
I almost went with basketball over tennis.
I can't beat guys consistently playing like I'm 5-foot-10.
There are a lot of things that go on between the lines of a tennis court, mentally, physically and whatnot.
People seem to think when you lose a match it's because you are not working hard.
I've sort of always pulled for the heels, like the bad guys. So I think if I were a pro wrestler, first I'd need to bulk up, and second I'll need to get sort of a bad-boy persona.
Playing four years of college, when you're playing for someone other than yourself, I think it makes it a lot more fun.
That's why I enjoy Davis Cup, and I really enjoyed college tennis. It's very special. You want to go out there and compete your hardest, because you don't want to let anyone down. You want to absolutely give it your all for your team. And that's sort of the mentality I've taken to pro tennis.
That would be a huge honor, if I ever were to become the No. 1 American. It's something that I've always wanted to, you know, achieve that. For me, if were to happen, it'd be great. I'd try to hold onto that spot as long as possible, but I know there'd be a lot of people nipping at my heels to try to get to that No. 1 spot.
I want to be a top-10 player and I want to win a Grand Slam tournament.
I had no idea I was going to be this tall. Had I known that, I honestly would have stuck to basketball.
My family and friends, they know that I'm a really good competitor.
When I travel to a grand slam, I need to look for a place to stay for me, my family and my team.
I have a coach and I have a chiropractor, who works to keep me healthy. I pay their salaries. I pay for their flights as we travel around the world on a weekly basis, and I pay for their hotels and meals while we're on tour.
My expenses are largely a fixed, sunken cost, regardless of how much revenue I earn.
I try not to make a habit of spending the whole year losing in the first rounds of events, but tennis is one of those sports where nothing is guaranteed.
Everyone works so hard on their game and on their body. Most of the time, it comes down to who is more relaxed mentally; on the court while playing and off the court.
There is so much that goes in to being a good tennis player. It's not just what you can do well on the court, it's between the ears as well.
As a tennis player, or any professional athlete, our career has a shelf life. I don't want to waste any opportunities, I don't want to look back on it when I'm 45 and think I could have done a lot more.