John Isner desires to follow in the footsteps of Andre Agassi – Tennis News
Top American, John Isner, has said he wants to emulate Andre Agassi’s achievement of winning Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
The inform player shared that he will draw inspiration from the legendary American and try to grab a Gold Medal at the London Olympics this year.
The 6ft 9in tall was just 11 years old when Agassi had the honour of wearing a Gold Medal but he has not forgotten that and still calls it his best Olympic memory.
Isner said, "I remember Andre Agassi in '96 winning the gold medal. Him winning that gold medal in the US was very special to me. Now I get a chance to match his efforts - it's very special."
The 26-year-old replaced Fish as the highest ranked American tennis player on the ATP World Tour, as he rose to the ninth position in the South African Airways ATP Rankings at the start of this week.
The American, who will compete at the Olympics for the first time in his career, is happy that this time it will be held at grass courts.
He said, "Grass is the surface the players play the least on. It's something you have to pick up quickly. It's a surface I can do well on."
Isner thinks that Olympics is a huge event, as big as a Grand Slam and can be called the fifth Major. He said it will be like having one Wimbledon after the other, as there is a gap of just three weeks between the two mega events. Also, the tennis event at the Olympics will be held at the All England Club, so all the settings and everything would be same. He also shared that London Olympics will have the toughest competition.
The American added, “It (the Olympics) will be as strong a field as any this year. Both events are so huge. Wimbledon is the Mecca of tennis but the Olympics only comes around every four years. I just hope I'm lucky enough to compete."
Three of the all time greats in the history of tennis will be taking past this time. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have achieved amazing laurels in their careers. Federer has won the most Grand Slams ever won by a tennis player, Nadal has 10 Majors to his name and the biggest winning streak on clay court, Djokovic had made the second best start to a tennis season ever in 2011 and captured last three Grand Slams.
However, Isner has achieved the feat of beating Federer and Djokovic this year.
Tags: