Daily Pro Diaries: What it takes to be John Isner for a day

Dear Diary,

You know as well as I do that I’m basically John Isner 2.0 at this point. I’ve got Grant Chen in my coaching corner, a stomach that managed a meat-and-dairy-heavy diet, and a production team with 24-hour proof of all the madness.

I set a few goals for myself going into the day, and it’s time that I reflect on how I did.

1. Don’t fight the food, let it fuel you

The biggest variable going into the day was the food. John is a Texan who stands tall, meaning I was prepping for a hefty meal, to say the least.

Breakfast surprised me, as I was expecting a buffet spread of fruits and yogurts and breakfast meats and breads and all kinds of eggs. Picture a Best Western complimentary breakfast nook and double or triple it. Instead, it was "just" a bagel and eggs—still a lot for 7 in the morning. But I knew I had a long day ahead of me, and saw it as a chance to fuel myself for the first workout of the day.

By the time lunch rolled around, all I was feeling was hunger, so it didn’t weigh me down as much as it hit the right spot. The steak dinner, however, upset my stomach more than anything. Let’s just say it’s a good thing that it was the end of my Isner-ness.

2. Passive-aggressively warn John about the newest Isner

Nothing really to elaborate on here, just a 100% completion rate to note.

3. Take the workout seriously and practice with high intensity

Aside from a stationary bike that hated my guts, the workout was as straightforward as it seemed. After the bike submitted to my willpower to warm up on it, I moved onto the standard high knees, butt kicks, lunges, Frankensteins, RDLs, lower-leg band movements and arm stretching, and went right to work from there.

Most of the workouts involved weights; my lunge and squat sets were weight intensive. There was a bit of cardio on the turf as well, and the crew’s favorite part was watching the burpees. And by burpees, I mean slow death.

I enjoyed the 10-minute drive to the courts more than anything as I very much needed the break to physically recover and mentally prepare myself for the actual tennis. When I spoke to John in the afternoon, he mentioned having a light snack in between the workouts and tennis practices, but because I was already feeling weighed down by a new diet, I wasn’t feeling hungry—more so thirsty.

Once at the courts, we got right to business. I set my bag down, organized my space as I normally do (yes, I have my own on-court quirks) and felt prepared to take on the practice.

Keep in mind that I was finding out the specifics of everything in real time. I didn’t even know I had to channel my inner John Isner until the day before.

John enjoys an extended, high-intensity warm up. After a bit of mini tennis, we went right into hitting down the middle, eventually opening it up to groundstroke points. The progression from there is to crosscourt hitting, making time for inside out forehands, and then I made my way to the net. I warmed up volleys down the middle and across both sides of the court, moving my way forward to simulate match conditions.

Now that everything was warmed up—and if you ask me, they were in fact en fuego—we were ready for baseline drills, but not before a necessary water break.

You could tell by my hair that this was not only an intense practice, but a very hot day to be on court.

4. Win the practice set at the end of the tennis session

After the baseline drills there was a quick serve-and-return warm up before point play. Now, I know I’m John Isner for the day, but my hitting partner was more physically John than I could ever be. I’m talking a 6’4" Division I competitor who still practices on the daily.

So when I mentioned earlier that I was mentally preparing for the tennis, it’s because I knew he wasn’t going to take it easy on me. On the contrary, he came to beat former world No. 8. After all, he was expecting Isner.

It was at this point in the day that I truly had to channel everything inside me to get through the practice. I was really pushing myself to the limit here, and the day was getting to me.

Unfortunately, the practice set slipped right out of my fingers, with the whole production team noting just how tired I was getting. The fatigue was real, people, and the lunch that followed was very much needed.

5. Make it to 6’11"

If I was going to be the newest Isner, I had to not only meet his 6’10" height, but raise him one inch. Although my standing height remains unchanged, my shadow during certain hours of the day is certainly up there.

Oh, diary, who am I kidding! All reflections aside, I just can’t wait for the next one!

Yours Truly,

The Daily Pro