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By Erik Gudris | Monday, March 16, 2015

 
John Isner

John Isner, despite a tough Davis Cup loss a few weeks ago, is looking forward to a possible rematch against top seed Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells.

Photo Credit: Getty

U.S No. 1 John Isner is looking forward to yet another possible match against a familiar opponent at the BNP Paribas Open.

His name - Novak Djokovic.

Isner did his part in reaching the fourth round on Monday by getting past No. 16 seed Kevin Anderson. As expected when these two big servers met, a tiebreak inevitably became part of the match dynamic.

Indian Wells: Jankovic Edges Keys in Three Sets.

The 18th seeded Isner closed out the first set by winning a close tiebreak 7-6(6). Things got easier for the American in the second set as Isner broke his opponent twice.

The result - Isner walked away with the 7-6(6), 6-2 victory that he agreed later was one of his best wins of the season.

"You know, it's been a while. Those are the matches I'm accustomed to winning matches like that. I haven't really done that this year so far," Isner said. "Winning that, it's pretty big for my confidence. Serve came up huge when I needed it in the first set tiebreaker. 146 right on the line, and I just gutted it out and I played a good second set. So I'm happy with that."

Though his focus is on Indian Wells this week, Isner admitted he still thinks about his heartbreaking loss in Davis Cup. Isner lead the UK's James Ward by a two sets to love lead before Ward came back to win in five sets.

"I have done a pretty good job putting that behind me, but it's still extremely disappointing. I'm out here playing for myself now. I'm not necessarily wearing the stars and stripes on my shirt playing against another country right now. These wins are great, but the Davis Cup still stings a lot."

Waiting for Isner could be top seed Djokovic. Both men have played memorable matches against each other in Indian Wells on numerous occasions. Isner lost to eventual champion Djokovic in last year's semifinals. But Isner feels the conditions and court suit his game very well.

"I can't ask for better conditions to go up against someone like that. These conditions suit me very well. That being said, every condition suit him well. He does everything the best. That's why he's No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he's a slouch on."

"But I think a court like this and maybe hopefully the crowd on my side can certainly help me a lot."

While Isner has had a slow start to this season results-wise, he feels that good things are on their way. Part of that is due to his ongoing coaching relationship with Justin Gimelstob who also does work for the Tennis Channel. The pair drove down to Indian Wells from Los Angeles together and talked tactics before the event.

"He's been all in on his part, and I feel like I have been all in on my part. I just haven't allowed myself to…I have been a bit of a mental midget in some instances this is year in tournaments, but I'm trying to get better at that. And Justin, he's been by my side and he's worked extremely hard. It's going to pay dividends, for sure. "

 

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