Isner goes court to court
ASB Classic’s top seed John Isner spent time court side yesterday afternoon, but a court of a basketball variety, rather than a tennis one.
The two-time champion in Auckland stands at 2.08m tall, so has an attribute that could have made him a good player. However, he chose a to play a sport where there’s a yellow ball instead of an orange one.
‘‘I fit in better on a basketball court than I do around a tennis tournament,’’ Isner said before the game, which the Breakers won 97-84 against Perth Wildcats.
‘‘Basketball was one of my first loves, I did have to give it up eventually, but it’s cool being back here, to watch the Breakers.’’
Isner was supposed to shoot some hoops with the Breakers during their warm up but arrived too late for that.
At a time out during the match he was called upon to throw a hoop over an inflatable pineapple and looked bemused by it all and left at halftime.
Isner is a regular feature at the Classic each year and his chances of winning the tournament for the third time have gone up a fair bit with the withdrawals of Tomas Berdych and Roberto Bautista-Agut.
‘‘This was the site of my first ever ATP tournament win and everyone remembers their first tournament win,’’ Isner said.
‘‘Ask Roger Federer, he’ll tell you exactly where he won his first tournament.
‘‘For me, it was Auckland in 2010 and ever since then I’ve found myself coming back.’’
2018 was the best year yet on the tour for the 33-year-old, he won the Miami Open, got his world ranking to nine [he’s currently at 10] and reached the ATP fTirosutrtiFmien.als in London for the
‘‘I had a very good year,’’ Isner reflected.
‘‘I didn’t have a great start to the year, so that’s something that I’ve focused on, to start the year better.
‘‘I didn’t win my match here last year and I lost in the first round of the Australian Open as well.
‘‘So it’s a very good opportunity for me to make amends in 2019 and try to start the year better, but with that being said, we know how the beginning of the year is and how good everyone is, especially at this tournament.’’
Getting to the ATP Finals at the 02 Arena, is a significant achievement for any player, it signifies you’re truly among the elite of the game.
At it though, Isner lost to Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev, so he admits it was a bitter-sweet experience.
‘‘Playing in that tournament is a very different animal,’’ he said. ‘‘You’re up against the best seven players in the world and I was in a group with some fantastic players.
‘‘I wasn’t able to win, but it’s really not that surprising. I’d love to get back there, I think I can, even at 33 right now.
‘‘It’s something everyone sets their sights on and I’m no different.’’
The most famous fact about Isner is that he played in the longest ever tennis match, beating Nicholas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set in 2010, with the match lasting over 11 hours.
At last year’s Wimbledon he lost to Kevin Anderson 26-24 in another fifth set marathon.
It was this match that sparked changes to the grand slams with Wimbledon deciding that there will be a tiebreak at 12-12 in the final set from this year, while the Australian Open announced before Christmas that there would be a super tiebreak at 6-6 in the final set.
The changes are likely to paflfaeycetrIsinnerthmeorweotrhladn, gainvyenothheirs style of play and he backs the changes.
‘‘With Wimbledon, I’ve said in the past that I was in favour of a rule change and they might name that rule after me!’’ Isner smiled.
‘‘Having it at 12-12 is a very good compromise and the Aussie Open has decided to change course as well.
‘‘I wasn’t consulted about that, I found out like everyone found out, it seems like it was a week ago on social media.
‘‘It will come into play at some point this year at the Australian Open, we’ll see if it comes in play in one of my matches.’’