| By Chris Oddo |
Photo Credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography |
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(April 5, 2012)—When the Americans take to the clay against France in Monte Carlo on Friday they will be the heavy underdogs, but John Isner doesn’t mind that at all. After all, Isner is the man who scored a massive win against Roger Federer in the American’s upset of Switzerland just a few months ago. Why should he feel that any challenge is overwhelming?
Even with top-ranked American and key contributor in the Switzerland upset Mardy Fish unable to play due to fatigue, Isner and the Americans believe that they can win. “I went into this tie thinking I was going to be No. 2, the No. 2 player, but obviously now I'm the No. 1,” said Isner earlier this week. “It doesn't change anything. I have to go out there on Friday and try to win a match for us no matter who I'm playing. For me, it's still the same.”
French Captain Guy Forget is aware that Isner is a dangerous player on clay even though he isn’t the prototypical dirtballer. “John is a great player,” Forget told DavisCup.com today. “He beat Roger Federer a few weeks ago in the first round in Fribourg. That was very impressive – he’s got a lot of experience now. He’s a very talented player.”
The 6’9” No. 11-ranked American will face Gilles Simon in the second rubber on Friday at the Monte Carlo Country Club. He’ll benefit from the fact that he’s undefeated against the Frenchman in their two previous matches, though he’s never played him on clay.
But that doesn’t bother Isner either.
“It’s absolutely beautiful here,” a relaxed Isner said of the gorgeous seaside environs at Monte Carlo. “I asked Jay Berger if we could play our home times here. We’re just looking forward to getting out there, playing in front of a big crowd and playing at such a beautiful setting.”
As far as feeling pressured to back up the performance on clay in Switzerland, Isner isn’t buying into the notion. “No,” he said when asked about it. “It’s a road tie for us,” he added. “A lot of times being on the road sort of takes the pressure off of you, because it’s not really the surface that we would choose if we were at home.”
Simon, who was a late addition to the French team when Gael Monfils was injured last Sunday, knows that Isner will not be a walk in the park, even on the slow-playing clay in Monte Carlo. “He’s a very tough opponent. I’m pretty sure he can play amazing tennis on clay also,” he said. “I expect a very hard match.”
In Monte Carlo, Isner won’t benefit from the erratic bounces that favored him in Fribourg. In Switzerland, Federer was perturbed by the poor clay, calling it virtually unplayable. Surely, bad bounces would favor the hard-hitting, less consistent game of Isner, but even on the pristine clay of Monte Carlo, Isner knows he is one of the few players with a big enough game to hit through the clay.
With one of the world’s biggest serves, and a cannon for a forehand, Isner will have to play aggressive and not allow Simon to turn the match into a running contest.
Judging from his comments, he doesn’t feel like that should be a problem. He’s not panicked about the red dirt at all, and this mindset has probably led to his surprising success on the surface. “A court is a court,” Isner said on Tuesday. “For me, I'm going to go and try to play my game. As far as the speed or anything like that, I haven't even thought about it. I don't know if it's fast or slow or not. It's fine. I'm going to go out there and try to play well.”
No pressure? Lot’s of confidence? An undefeated record against Friday’s opponent? Sounds like Isner could learn to like this underdog thing.
Captain Courier sees it the same way. “We’re absolutely the underdogs,” said Courier on Thursday. “and that’s fine. We don’t mind playing as the underdog.”