Just days after winning the longest match in tennis history, John Isner appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" to present the Top Ten list titled, "Thoughts That Went Through John Isner's Mind During the 11-Hour Tennis Match." Letterman introduced Isner, and the crowd applauded with the kind of admiration and appreciation you normally hear reserved for a much more famous person. In typical Isner fashion, the athlete took it all in stride. He didn't need to—the crowd was already on his side—but he won them over with his aw-shucks grin and Southern charm. He even showed he's got some comic chops, timing the jokes loosely and giggling at the thought of how things would have turned out if his opponent had been Roger Federer instead of Nicolas Mahut:
For me, what made this moment special was not the acknowledgement of Isner's feat. It was how the show used him. Unlike a typical quick chat with the U.S. Open champion, Isner was incorporated into the show's most popular segment, and he made the most of it. The match may have put tennis on the national news again, but it was Isner's appearance on Letterman that took it to another level of mainstream. Tennis was once again cool.
—Sarah Thurmond