After suffering the worst Wimbledon in 103 years, America is not exactly brimful of contenders for the mens singles crown at the US Open that begins in proper three days from now. So when national no.1 John Isner felt a distinct twinge of pain a few hours before his Winston-Salem Open quarterfinal, he had no hesitation in erring on the side of caution and prioritizing being ready for New York.
Isner, the world no. 15 and seeded 13th for the years final Grand Slam tournament, allowed Lukas Rosol a free ride into the semi-finals at the Wake Forest Tennis Center where the Czech will meet Taipeis Yen-Hsun Lu.
The fact he was top seed and in with a great chance of winning his hometown title for the third time in four years didnt matter to Isner who has been drawn against Marcos Giron, the 2014 NCAA singles champion, in the first round of the US Open.
”I can’t risk further injury with the U.S. Open right around the corner,” maintained an unrepentant Isner who has never gone further than the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event and that at Flushing Meadows back in 2011. ”It was pretty uncomfortable doing even minimal stretching on it. I didn’t see the benefit of taking the court.”
North Carolina native Isner reportedly sprained his left ankle during his 6-1,7-6 win over Kazakhstans 13th seeded Mikhail Kukushkin on Wednesday evening. He also withdrew from his title defense a year ago.
“It happened at 5-all,” Isner said. “I went over on it pretty good. But immediately after it happened, I felt no pain on it at all. I was a little worried when I went to bed that night, and it was pretty swollen this morning. There’s not much motion in the ankle right now, which led me to this decision.
“It’s going to impact my preparations. I probably won’t get on the court and hit some balls until Saturday. But I’m going to do everything I can to get it as fit as possible. I certainly expect to take the court in my first-round match, and at this point I expect to play well up there as well.”
But he did offer his apologies to the paying public when he said: I am extremely disappointed to have to withdraw from the Winston-Salem Open, one of my favorite stops of the year.
It is extra disappointing for me given that it is my hometown tournament. I would have loved to continue to chase my third title here in Winston-Salem in front of these great fans, my friends and family.”
Topics: John Isner, Tennis, Tennis News, US Open, US Open 2014
@JohnIsner, AMERICAS NUMBER ONE PLAYER, IS #INJURED BEFORE THE START OF THE 2014 @usopen #TENNIS- http://t.co/UAbybeXRm5 #USOpen2014 #Isner