Isner shines in media spotlight

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On Tuesday, John Isner and his agent Sam Duvall, were in New York for a series of TV interviews and a turn on "Late Show with David Letterman" in the wake of his record-setting Wimbledon first-round match. They planned to go to a Yankees game that night when a call came in.

Would Isner be willing to throw out the first pitch?

Said Isner, "It changed our plan a little bit."

Win a 183-game, 11-hour match at Wimbledon, Isner learned this past week, and your plans can change a lot. Isner's time in New York opened the Georgia grad's eyes to his raised profile.

After capitalizing on the moment, though, the 25-year-old Isner wants to leave it behind.

"Anytime you get exposure like this, it's really neat," said Isner, an easygoing North Carolinian who loves bass fishing and the Carolina Panthers. However, "from here on out, the type of exposure I want is from doing really, really well in tennis tournaments and especially the big tennis tournaments."

The marketing machine began to whir even before the match ended. After darkness halted the second day of Isner's match with Nicolas Mahut at 59-59 in the fifth set, morning shows in the United States wanted him on the next morning. He ended up doing a short interview with the "Today" show.

When the match resumed the third day, seating was so packed at Court 18 that an usher had to ask John McEnroe, at the tournament for NBC, to leave his seat in the players' box, Duvall said.

In New York, a beverage company watched the marathon match with delight. Isner endorses Vita Coco, a coconut-water product, and drinks it by the case.

Even before Wimbledon, Vita Coco had planned an ad campaign featuring Isner in New York for the U.S. Open in August and September.

Since the match -- at one point cameras caught Isner going over to Vita Coco's head of European operations in the stands to get replenished -- the company has expanded its marketing plans.

Part of the promotion will be "pretty large and very visible in New York City," Vita Coco co-founder and CEO Michael Kirban said, declining to be more specific.

Like a billboard?

"Bigger than a billboard," he said.

Shortly after returning to the States, Isner made his trip to New York to visit with ABC's "Good Morning America," CNN and "Fox & Friends." On "Letterman," he gave the "Top ten thoughts that went through John Isner's mind during the 11-hour tennis match." (No. 4: "Why couldn't I have played Federer? It would've been over in 15 minutes.")

"Who'd ever expect that?" Isner said of the "Letterman" gig. "That was just nuts."

He got a standing ovation at Yankee Stadium, where he sat in the owner's box and met Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, manager Joe Girardi and baseball legend Yogi Berra.

Said Isner of his toss, "It was a little bit high, but it wasn't a bad pitch."

Isner returned to Tampa on Wednesday. He'll be in Athens this week for his tennis camp. He has a World Team Tennis match July 13 (he's a Boston Lobster) and the following night he'll be in Los Angeles for the ESPYs. He's nominated for best record-breaking performance, along with Usain Bolt, Brett Favre, Federer and the Connecticut women's basketball team.

Not bad buzz for a guy who, before Wimbledon, had recognition in tennis circles as a rising star -- his ranking was No. 755 in July 2007 and No. 104 in June 2009 before reaching No. 19 in May -- but not much notoriety beyond that.

A week after becoming the star of the moment, Isner conceded he enjoyed tasting the life of the famous. He already, though, saw its traps.

"I guess, yeah, [the allure of fame] is something I have to be wary of, but I know it's not going to be an issue for me," he said. "If anything, it'll make me work harder because I don't want this to be the lasting memory of my career."

Thursday, Isner was back on the job, working out.