John Isner
September 12, 2025
“For me, the option of going pro straight from juniors was never on the table. I was always going to go to college, and I think I made the right choice in going to Georgia. Where I grew up in North Carolina, I was lucky. I think I made a lot of good decisions when in juniors, I had great parents that encouraged me to play, but never really forced it upon me. I had a lot of great mentors and coaches in Greensboro. Also, I was fortunate enough to have two players my same age that played high-level junior tennis. It was a good place for me to hone my skills as a junior while also keeping a very normal life as a kid growing up, which was important to me. My goal was to get a college scholarship to alleviate that financial burden on my parents. When I was at Georgia, that’s when I started to really develop as a player and noticed my game improve a lot. And now, college tennis is more in vogue. Look at Emma Navarro, Danielle Collins, Peyton Stearns… Really, it makes sense. It’s hard and you have to be very, very special (more…)
“For me, the option of going pro straight from juniors was never on the table. I was always going to go to college, and I think I made the right choice in going to Georgia. Where I grew up in North Carolina, I was lucky. I think I made a lot of good decisions when in juniors, I had great parents that encouraged me to play, but never really forced it upon me. I had a lot of great mentors and coaches in Greensboro. Also, I was fortunate enough to have two players my same age that played high-level junior tennis. It was a good place for me to hone my skills as a junior while also keeping a very normal life as a kid growing up, which was important to me. My goal was to get a college scholarship to alleviate that financial burden on my parents. When I was at Georgia, that’s when I started to really develop as a player and noticed my game improve a lot. And now, college tennis is more in vogue. Look at Emma Navarro, Danielle Collins, Peyton Stearns… Really, it makes sense. It’s hard and you have to be very, very special (more…)
