By Christopher Lancette
It’s a strange sight to see a 6’9’’ man slump so deeply into a chair that he almost disappears into it. Stranger still when the man just won a professional tennis match 7-6, 1-6, 7-6 that propelled him into the quarterfinals of a tournament.
But that is what it was like for John Isner, ranked No. 35 in the whole world, after beating his buddy James Blake at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Thursday night.
“It’s terrible, to be honest,” he said, fumbling for words and all but apologizing for taking out Blake. “It’s kind of bitter-sweet. I’m happy to get through but I feel terrible for James.”
Isner’s mood soured even more as the post-match presser continued.
“I don’t like playing friends, period,” he said, “and when you do, you want it to be deep in the tournament.”
If the victor was in the dumps sitting by himself, he might have needed a dose of Prozac had he seen Blake sitting in the opposite chair just moments earlier. The look on Blake’s face made you wonder if he had just lost his dog – though he said the pain of losing to a friend is no different from that of any loss.
“We’re both professionals,” he said. “We’ve played friends before. It’s actually sometimes a little easier playing someone you’re really close to as opposed to just sort of an acquaintance because you know that no matter what after the match you’re going to be fine. “
Still, had the pair been seated together for the post-match interview session, they surely would have run into one of “Late Late Show” host Craig Ferguson’s awkward pauses, right?
Not according to Blake.
“John and I are still going to be neighbors, still going to be golf buddies, still going to be going out to dinner plenty, and still going to be cheering each other on,” he said. “I’m upset now but it has nothing to do with him. It’s a loss. That’s the way it’s always going to be. I feel like he’d be in the same boat if those points had gone my way. I think he’d be upset but I don’t think he’d be upset at me. “
Isner moved on to questions about the match itself but took no joy in talking about even his regained sense of confidence.
“This is a match I wouldn’t have won [a few months ago],” he said. “It’s hard to explain … in a pressure situation, things just seem to go your way and that was the case tonight.”
He put his giant hands on the back of his cap as he continued, as if still in shock over beating his friend.
“I kind of tell myself, to be honest, that if I don’t win, I’m going to be really happy for James,” he said. “It’s not like I’m playing some guy that if I lose I’m going to be so devastated.”
On that point Blake agreed.
“There’s never going to be any bad blood between us. We’re too good a friends,” he said. If we play again, we’re going to be buddies right up until the match and buddies right after the match. It’s not as big a deal.”
Isner next faces Serbia’s Viktor Troicki. A win there might turn the big man’s frown upside down.
Photos credit © by Won-ok Kim
