For Tennis Parents by a Tennis Parent

I was so fortunate to have the chance to sit down and chat with Karen Isner, mom of our Bulldog John Isner. We talked about raising a junior tennis player, the transition from juniors to college, and the transition then to professional tennis. Of course, I had to ask her about what happened during John’s match with Gael Monfils the other night. Unfortunately, our interview got cut off somehow, but Karen told me how proud she was of her son’s maturity and grace in terms of the way he handled the adversity dished out by a harsh crowd in Louis Armstrong Stadium. She said she just didn’t understand why they turned on John, especially since he and Gael are such good friends and have never had a harsh word between them. I assured her that everyone I had heard from was impressed by and proud of the way John spoke about the incident with the media afterward and that she certainly raised him well! I’m pleased to report that the crowd in today’s match versus Phillip Kolschreiber stayed in John’s corner ’til the bitter end, and John seemed to feed off and appreciate the support. Take a listen . . .