John Isner
highlighted
Andy Roddick's strong efforts to become world No. 1 in a press
conference at
US Open The
38-year-old American will play his final tournament as a professional at the
2023 US Open in front of his home crowd. Isner is concluding a 17-year career
that has garnered significant media attention due to his impressive
accomplishments.
During a
press conference, Isner expressed his admiration for Andy Roddick and the
passion he had throughout his career, which, as he mentioned, strongly
influenced his development as a professional:
"I
think just how hard he worked. I think he would admit, obviously he was
talented, but I don't think he was the most talented guy, by any means, but he
was an absolutely bulldog on the court, of course, but off the court in how he
trained, how he took care of himself. One of the hardest workers I think this
sport has ever seen," former world No. 8 said in a press conference.
"When
I'm in college or high school, seeing him win the US Open, then come on tour
with him, see how hard he worked, it definitely showed me that I had a long way
to go just to try to match him because he was at the top of the top 10 forever,
top 5 for a long time, too," Isner added.
“He just
worked his ass off each and every day. Just watching that for me was very
inspiring. If I wanted to be a top professional, I knew I had to at least try
to do what he does," Isner concluded
On the
other hand, Isner spoke about the 20 years that the American men's tennis has
gone without winning the US Open title, with the last one being Andy Roddick
himself. However, Isner expressed his belief that the negative streak could
come to an end soon:
"I
think American men's tennis is in a very good spot right now. I mean, who
knows. Like, that could keep going because the No. 1 player is pretty good and
very young.
“We have a
lot of players that can definitely challenge for that Grand Slam,"
"I mean, heck,
Frances was a set away from being in the finals last year, so... Just need
things to fall into place for you throughout the course of two weeks. It's
definitely possible. But we're in a good spot right now, I think,"