Let's say you are the No. 839th ranked tennis player in the world. Unheralded on the pro tour. No, worse than unheralded. Obscure. No, worse than that. A total nonentity. Then suddenly, in a whirlwind of wild cards and unexpected stellar play, you find yourself not only in the third round of the US Open—your country's Grand Slam and the tournament you dreamed of playing as a kid—but you are in the US Open striking tremendous fear in the world’s No. 1 player and arguably the greatest player ever, Roger Federer.
That’s just about the dream John Isner is living.
The fear part is unverified, of course. It’s only the conjecture of John McEnroe, who hypothesized that when Federer was playing his second-round match, and saw on the stadium scoreboard that Isner had just won his second-round match and would therefore be his next opponent, Federer was momentarily rattled, causing him to lose his serve.
Not everyone buys into McEnroe’s hypothesis, including Isner. But the mere fact that McEnroe thought it speaks volumes about the impact 22-year-old, 6-foot-9, massive-serving John Isner has had since turning pro just this past June. He is having a run here that is taking everyone by surprise, including himself.
“Knowing that I've won two matches against quality opponents, having my next match against, I believe, the most dominant athlete in the world in any sport, the chance to play against him on Arthur Ashe? Yeah, it's definitely surreal,” says Isner, who came into the US Open ranked No. 184.
The truth is, Isner's sudden, out-of-nowhere appearance on the pro tour is rare. For starters, by his own admission Isner had a highly undistinguished junior career. Asked what his best win in the junior's was, Isner had no clue. In fact, he never competed outside the U.S. in a junior event, which is pretty standard fare these days for developing players. “I never beat anybody really that good,’’ he says. “I wasn't that good as a junior. That's why I chose to go to college.”
He attended the University of Georgia for four years and in his senior year led the Bulldogs to an undefeated 32-0 season and the NCAA team title. He also reached the final of the NCAA tournament, losing to Virginia’s Somdev Devvarman. But still, no one was exactly making plans at that point for Isner to be playing a Grand Slam in New York in September.
Fellow American Mardy Fish, ranked No. 40 in the world, certainly didn’t see it coming. Isner went down to Tampa to work out with Fish, and Fish, who says his first impression of Isner was that he was a “big, goofy kid,’’ is as surprised as anyone. “I definitely didn’t see this meteoric rise like he’s done,’’ Fish said.
But Isner, who in Washington hit a record 144 aces—the most ever in a non-Grand Slam—has made a quick believer of many of late. Jarkko Nieminen, the No. 26 seed here and the player Isner beat in straight sets in the first round, says Isner’s serve is the biggest he’s ever seen. Former US Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson is equally impressed with Isner’s fearless attitude on court.
“He's 22 and he's having fun and he's got a great attitude,’’ Gullikson says. “With a serve like that he's going to be in any match. I think he can be in the top 10."
Even Federer is appearing, if not fearful, extremely aware of Isner’s big game.
“I saw he had a good serve, he’s got a good second serve, too," Federer said, having watched Isner play here at the Open. “It’s going to be interesting to see how I handle that because the trajectory of a big guy like this, tall guy, it’s always different. You maybe have to adjust a little bit in the beginning. It’s going to be interesting to see how good he is from the baseline. I thought he hit the ball pretty well, but you never know until you face him.”
Isner credits college for giving him time to develop his game, not to mention a couple of nicknames from his fellow Georgia Bulldog teammates: “Grandpa,’’ because off the court he can be slow in getting around to doing things, and “Lloyd’’ as a result of a bad haircut he got one time that made him look like the character Lloyd Christmas from the movie “Dumb and Dumber."
“I got so much stronger in college, physically, mentally,'' he says. "I won a lot in college. I had so much fun in college. I wasn't out here grinding on the Pro Tour at 19. Didn't seem like too much fun to me.”
Whether it's college or a sudden, unexplainable blooming and a game coming together in miraculous ways, Isner is having a one-of-a-kind Cinderella run this summer. In June, ranked No. 839 in the world, he won a futures tournament in Chico, Calif. In July, ranked No. 745 he won a challenger in Lexington, Ky. Moving on, he got a wild card into the ATP Tour event in Washington as the No. 416th ranked player and, if all this Cinderella stuff isn't enough, won a record five straight matches in third-set tiebreakers to reach the final.
And now, less than a month later, the US Open. Third round. Federer.
“If I go in the match [against Federer] not believing I'm gonna win, just happy to be out there, you know, he's going to smell that, he's going to smell that blood and just attack,’’ Isner said, looking ahead to his encounter with the world’s No. 1. “I'm going to go out there and just play my game. Most importantly, have a lot of fun. I'm gonna believe. I'm not saying I'm gonna win, but I'm gonna believe.”
