John Isner Victorious in His First Match of BNP Paribas Open

Written by: Staff on 10th March 2012

John Isner Victorious in His First Match of BNP Paribas Open |

John Isner, the world #11 singles player, began his campaign at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open with a straight sets win over Frederico Gil. The second highest ranked American explained how he felt out on the court during his post-match press conference as well as his Olympic ambitions this Summer.

“I thought I played fairly well. It took me a while to kinda get my feet wet a little bit, but fortunately for me I have the luxury of having a big serve when I’m really not that comfortable in the early goings of the match.”

Isner had one of the biggest wins of his career over Roger Federer in Davis Cup last month; Isner says his level of play hasn’t been up to par since that particular win. Isner hopes to use the BNP Paribas and Miami events to catapult his ranking into the top 10 for the first time in his career. These are exciting times for a man with one of the biggest serves on tour. When asked about his Olympic doubles aspirations, Isner spoke comically about trying to lure Venus or Serena Williams to be his mixed doubles partner.

“I’ve got to try and hawk Venus or Serena away from Bob or Andy or one of those guys. See what I can do.”

Isner is scheduled to face the winner of the Juan Monaco and Nicolas Mahut match. If he plays Mahut, it’ll be their first meeting on a hard court, having played all of their three previous matches on grass.

Topics: Frederico Gil, John Isner, Juan Monaco, Nicolas Mahut, Roger Federer, Serena William, Thomas Shubert, Venus Williams