Newly-minted 'media dude' John Isner joins Andy Roddick on Served podcast

Less than a year after his retirement from tennis, John Isner is back on the scene–as a member of the media, that is.

On the latest episode of Served with Andy Roddick, the former Top 10 player admits that transitioning to broadcasting so closely on the heels of his competitive career was "a little bit weird," and that it's something he'll slowly have to get used to.

“Going to Indian Wells in my rental car and not having access to the player parking, going to the media parking lot a mile away,” he jokes, "I didn't try to fight it; it's kind of funny because I was a media dude.”

But Isner, who played his last matches at the 2023 US Open, is quick to note that he wasn’t planning on retiring when he did, although it turned out to be the right choice.

“I've had a long career, I played 'til 38-and-a-half, something I never could have imagined,” he said. “Would I like to play longer? Yes. Going into last year, I didn't have plans on retiring, but for me my body just finally let me down last year. It just was time. My body just said ‘no mas,' but I certainly miss it.

“Speaking to other former athletes, not just tennis, they tell me it's a 12- to 24-month process to sort of get over it, and I think that's kind of what I'm experiencing. I'm not quite 12 months into my retirement, but certainly a lot of aspects I miss about tennis.”

As the conversation continued, it became clear that the countrymen felt differently about their retirement in the early days.

“It’s interesting to me how two people can live, generally, the same reality and have a different take on what they miss, what they want to do, the parts they like,” Roddick said. “I'm almost the opposite of every single thing that you just said post-career. I didn't miss it as soon as I left it; mine was the reverse. The only thing I did miss was the discipline of training.”

“I had one day where I wanted to vomit after I retired because I wasn't out there,” he continued. “I retired young enough, and I don't say this in an arrogant way, but for four or five years after I retired, I didn't wonder if I could still play, I kind of knew that if I wanted to, I think I could have.”

An important takeaway of the pair's conversation was that at Isner’s 6-foot-10 height, the reality of professional sport is entirely different. Citing other big men like Reilly Opelka and Ivo Karlovic, Isner noted that the exposure to injury is greater, so his main goal was to stay healthy.

“I could not train in the cookie-cutter way,” Isner said. “Even at a young age, all the time in the gym was treated as more important than the time on the court. Of course I would put the time in on the court, but I was not practicing three to four hours a day, that would have been a detriment to myself.”

Not only was Isner’s training slightly altered for his height and game style: He was also one of the first players to turn pro after playing in college.

“It is the right choice for a lot a lot of players,” Isner said. “If you're not some supernatural talent coming out of high school, I think college tennis is the way to grow your game. What's the point of going out on tour at 18, 19, not mature, getting beat up on the Futures and the Challengers tour week after week after week? We've seen it where a lot of players have not gone to college and a lot of them never even broke the Top 100 because they just got so used to losing.”

But one player who chose differently was Tommy Paul, who elected to turn professional rather than joining Isner's alma mater, the University of Georgia. Isner joked that the once hard-partying Paul went into “witness protection" in an effort to take his tennis career seriously, something that is now reaping him results.

“Not to keep harping on Tommy Paul, this is a compliment, we know that the ladies love Tommy Paul and if he committed to go to Georgia, I know what it's like at the University of Georgia, he would have had a hard time staying in his apartment, and that's a huge, huge compliment to Tommy," Isner said. "So that's my point, he made the right choice and he's one of the most disciplined players on tour now.”

As the era of American men’s tennis transitions from the Roddicks and Isners to the Taylor Fritzes and Ben Sheltons, Roddick inquired what the tour was like during the change.

“I have absolutely nothing in common with really any of the any of those guys,” Isner said. “I mean maybe Tommy, Tommy likes to the fish and stuff. Taylor, Frances and Reilly, I have nothing absolutely nothing in common with those guys, but I respect the heck out of them at the same time.”

Later in the episode, Roddick reminds listeners that he and Isner will be taking on the Bryan brothers at the Atlanta Open. The foursome will celebrate the tournament’s last year at the Champions Challenge exhibition match, which will take place Monday, July 22, at 7 p.m. ET.

While Roddick tells Isner to lower expectations, Isner believes they have a shot.

“I will lower expectations only because our first and only experience playing doubles was an absolute disaster at the 2012 Olympics, but I think and I believe we’re going to beat them,” Isner said.

Roddick broke into laughter.

Tune into the full episode of Served with Andy Roddick Sunday night, and listen to it across media channels starting Tuesday.