John Isner’s career in tennis has been an incredibly varied and celebratory one. Coming of the heels of one of his best years yet, it feels like a better moment than ever to reflect on the promising career Isner has been grateful to have.
It wasn’t necessarily easy for Isner, though. Since he was married in December of 2017, he has had repeated struggles with focusing on winning matches. For him, it seemed that the more intensely he tried to win, the less confident he felt.
This lead to him starting off 2018 at 1-6, including some unfortunate losses both at the Indian Wells Masters and the Australian Open. This left Isner not feeling so confident about what was to come, second-guessing himself in the process.
However, his luck was about to change drastically with the Miami Open. After realizing that Isner was perfectly sufficient off the court but suddenly had issues during a game, David Macpherson (Isner’s coach) realized that Isner was suffering from tension. After encouraging him to loosen up and relax more, Isner won the Miami Open, getting him his first Masters 1000 title and launching his career. This streak would continue when Isner also won in Atlanta and as a result was able to get to the US Open quarterfinals.
Now in the fall, Isner was seemingly rejuvenated by the birth of his daughter. He felt very positive after this experience, as it allowed him to feel humbled by the nuance in life and it reminded him of how there are many more important things in life than only focusing on tennis. For him, he said, this helps clear his head, allowing him to have a hard set of priorities to follow. In a way, this makes his tennis playing stronger, as he is able to stay more focused for longer periods of time.
This change in direction seems to have been a breakthrough for the 34-year-old tennis player, as he is now being known as one of the biggest up-and-coming competitors in tennis today. The real question for this determined and young burst of energy is whether or not he can keep up his streak. Thankfully, Isner (and his fans) seem to think so, showing how one can start the year at a low point and end the year as a promising young professional in the field.