Disinterested and unknown, here's one youngster who aims to be a giant on the court as well as off
The Age
Tuesday January 5, 2010
TENNIS is full of tall stories, but here's one that's absolutely true.John Isner, the 206-centimetre giant, is the world No. 34 but plans to be inside the top 20 by year's end.The man-mountain from Greensboro, North Carolina, has a serve that many rate as the best in all of the men's game in fact he rates it that way himself. The surprising bit: he's not really into, you know, tennis.Asked yesterday who he had modelled his bazooka of a service upon was it Pete Sampras or Richard Krajicek? Mark Philippoussis or Greg Rusedski? the American opted for none of the above."I didn't really watch any tennis growing up," he said. "In fact, I still hardly ever watch it. I just don't find it that interesting. I'm much more of a football guy hockey, baseball, basketball, anything but tennis. That's just how I roll."Isner, at 24, is something of a late-bloomer but a lot of that comes down to his late start. He only took up tennis as a teenager after going down to the local club to watch his brother play. Pretty soon though he was scarcely that interested his natural talent was detected. He started to play a few local tournaments. He won.The ATP tour was the furthest thing from his mind, but Isner was happy that his newfound skill with a racquet won him a college scholarship. Only after graduating in 2006 did he consider it may provide a career."I didn't play seriously at all until I was 22," he said. "I was much more interested in going to college and getting an education. I've always been a late-bloomer in everything I do, my best tennis is probably three or four years away."In just two and a bit years on the tour he has cut his ranking from near 1000 to 34. Last year was a breakthrough as he beat top 10 player Gael Monfils in Indian Wells and then the result that really turned heads in his homeland knocked out Andy Roddick in a tough five-setter to make the fourth round of the US Open.He is a big man with an even bigger game, much of it built around his serve. Against Tommy Robredo this week in Perth he sent down a 225 km/h rocket on set point in a tie-breaker. He plays a lot of tie-breakers.World No. 16 Robredo likened it to roulette. Red or black, left or right, he was forced to guess which way it might be going in an forlorn attempt to just lay a racquet on it.John McEnroe has called it the best serve in current tennis and says Isner is a name in the draw that nobody wants to run up against.Veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen, aced 34 times by Isner during a match at the US Open, said it was the best serve he'd ever seen. Isner himself isn't exactly humble when asked if he has the toughest serve on tour."Yeah," he said with a liberal dose of swagger. "I'd say it's up there, it's what wins me most of my matches."Few saw the first-round doubles match at the 2008 Australian Open when Isner joined with Croatian Ivo Karlovic to form one of the great comic doubles pairings of all time. The pair are both 206 centimetres the two tallest men on the tour and both have massive serves and frightening wingspan."It was pretty funny," Isner remembered. "It was a horrible night, really cold weather and terrible conditions for serving. That probably tells you we lost."As a wildcard recipient at last year's open he smashed 39 aces past Dominik Hrbaty, but succumbed to cramp and lost his first-round match in four sets. He knows his court movement always the big man's weakness must improve if he is to take the next step. He has worked hard to be more mobile and says he is fitter than he was last year."My next goal is to be top 20 and I know I am a top-20 calibre player with the type of game I play," he said.At the Hopman Cup this week he has been a popular figure, joining forces with tiny teenager Melanie Oudin in another amusing-to-the-eye doubles' pairing.He arrived as a relative unknown in Australia, but is starting to get noticed for his tennis and not just his size. After Perth he will compete in Auckland before heading to Melbourne Park, where he says the high temperatures and hard court will suit his service of mass destruction.Win or lose it promises to be compelling viewing, even if Isner more of a football fan would most likely not think so.Russia kicked off its Hopman Cup campaign by defeating Germany 2-1.
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