Top 66 John Isner Quotes

I try not to make a habit of spending the whole year losing in the first rounds of events, but tennis is one of those sports where nothing is guaranteed.

I love building a team around me, and being able to support a group of people is one of the best feelings I’ve come to know during my career; I imagine this is what a lot of business owners can relate to this.

My family and friends, they know that I’m a really good competitor.

That’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve experienced ever, being a father.

It’s awesome to have the crowd on your side.

People seem to think when you lose a match it’s because you are not working hard.

I’m not really focused on my ranking.

I grew up in a nice neighborhood in Greensboro, N.C., which is not too big, but definitely not a small town.

Everything has gone pretty fluidly in my personal life, so I think that certainly helps.

I felt a ton of pressure in ’08. A lot of great things were expected of me right out of the gate, and I brought some of that on myself with those great early results. But I wasn’t a good enough player to make a run every fourth or fifth tournament. I wasn’t as good a player as my ranking indicated.

As a tennis player, or any professional athlete, our career has a shelf life. I don’t want to waste any opportunities, I don’t want to look back on it when I’m 45 and think I could have done a lot more.

My confidence sort of comes and goes very quickly.

You cannot just play tournament after tournament like maybe I did when I was 23, 24 years old.

I always ask for the exit row when flying. Airlines are pretty accommodating and most of the time I’ll get it.

A lot of players have had it worse than me. Look at a guy like Andy Roddick, incredible Hall of Fame player, but he ran up against Roger so many times in big finals.

The coaches that I have have done an incredible job with me, obviously the stuff we work on on the court.

Up until I was a junior at Georgia, I felt that when all was said and done, I’d at least have a college degree to fall back on when tennis was finished.

Usually I’m traveling for tennis, so the most important thing for me is to not get jet lag.

My marriage and my career are my two top priorities.

I want to be a top-10 player and I want to win a Grand Slam tournament.

I can’t beat guys consistently playing like I’m 5-foot-10.

I was always a late bloomer.

For me, I relish playing tournaments in America.

I’ve played with Prince racquets my entire career.

I know where I’m ranked, but I don’t look at it that much, I don’t study it that much. You really can’t look at it that way, you’ve got to try to win as many matches as you can, and it’s cliche, but you’ve got to take it one at a time.

Davis Cup is a completely different animal.

The good wins are still great, and you are on cloud nine when that happens, but the losses sting.

For the most part I consider myself a mentally strong player.

Yeah, certainly you want to try to save your energy at a Grand Slam.

A big upper body is not a great thing for tennis, and for me, flexibility is important.

We never got much in the way of material things, but if you can be spoiled by good cooking, my mom spoiled me three times a day all my life.

I’d love to have Trump come watch me. That would be awesome.

There is so much that goes in to being a good tennis player. It’s not just what you can do well on the court, it’s between the ears as well.

I’ve always stayed hungry.

I try not to eat too much, but I always get hungry before a match. I make sure I have enough fuel in my body. I’ll eat pasta and a little bit of protein usually. I’m pretty much eating a full meal.

In any match, making a lot of first serves is very important, especially for me.

If someone had told me at fourteen that I’d be six-ten, I might have stuck with basketball, in all seriousness.

I stopped eating airplane food; it’s not that good.

I almost went with basketball over tennis.

I was always so big, it took me a long time to grow into my body.

I think the more matches that I play, the better shape I’m going to get in. That’s the best type of fitness you can do.

Outdoor tennis plays into my strengths a little better.

I’ve sort of always pulled for the heels, like the bad guys. So I think if I were a pro wrestler, first I’d need to bulk up, and second I’ll need to get sort of a bad-boy persona.

Prior to our daughter being born, I think getting married is another big step. That definitely settles things down personally.

I haven’t really worked with, like, a mental coach or anything.

My favorite tournament is the U.S. Open because the atmosphere is great.

What I most look forward to about traveling to MEMPHIS is the great food.

I always knew that my best tennis was going to be in my late 20s.

Our biggest events are the Grand Slams and are always going to be the Grand Slams.

Sometimes I think the easiest way to introduce what goes into managing the expenses of a tennis career is to take a look at another pro sport and notice some of the differences.

I try to bring a lot of water on the plane with me and eat a really good meal.

Tennis is not really a traditional Olympic sport.

That’s why I enjoy Davis Cup, and I really enjoyed college tennis. It’s very special. You want to go out there and compete your hardest, because you don’t want to let anyone down. You want to absolutely give it your all for your team. And that’s sort of the mentality I’ve taken to pro tennis.

As anyone who is a father or mother out there can tell you, it’s pretty amazing.

I have a coach and I have a chiropractor, who works to keep me healthy. I pay their salaries. I pay for their flights as we travel around the world on a weekly basis, and I pay for their hotels and meals while we’re on tour.

I’ve done a good job putting some meat on my bones since my freshman year of college. It’s taken a lot of work. I was just under 200 pounds my freshman year; I was 6’8′ and 198 pounds.

A lot of times when I’m confident and relaxed on the court, I’m going to be a pretty tough out. But when I’m not so confident and not so relaxed, I tense up and my balls fall short and everything. It just sort of unravels.

Nothing against the Olympics. I played in 2012 and it was an incredible experience. It’s different for tennis players than for swimmers and track and field athletes. That’s the pinnacle of their sport and not so much the pinnacle of tennis.

Probably the most infamous story in our family: My oldest brother took a U-lock bike lock and locked my head to the bedpost. And he didn’t just do this for a minute or two; he did this for a couple hours. I was maybe 8 or 9, and he was maybe 15.

A tournament pays me to show up because the fans want to see me and I move the needle at the box office? That’s amazing. It’s good for tennis, good for me and good for the event. If a sponsor wants to pay to put their company name on my shirt because they think I’m a strong ambassador for their brand? Heck yes.

Everyone wants to start the year off well.

My expenses are largely a fixed, sunken cost, regardless of how much revenue I earn.

It is very hard to stay up there in the Top 20.

There are a lot of things that go on between the lines of a tennis court, mentally, physically and whatnot.

You know, Slams are tough. It’s the most physical, in my opinion. You’re playing three out of five.

You’re going to lose points and gain points throughout the year.