The line-ups are in...

John will be taking on the twenty year old youngster Ernests Gulbis from Latvia in the first round of Wimbledon next week. Gulbis broke through at the French this year, reaching the quarters where he fell to Novak Djokovic. the number 3 player in the world. This boosted his ranking to 48.

Roland Garros - 1st round

Juan Ignacio Chela, top performing clay courter from Argentina, got a surprise as John went up two sets and a break on one of the outside courts during the first round at Roland Garros. Booming serves and consistent groundies kept Chela tripping over his ankles, unable to gain footing on the red clay until halfway into the third set.

The magician overpowers the giant

With hackish moves and crafty play, Santoro sends the fuzzy yellow ball spinning and dancing around the court in ways that would drive just about any player out of his mind. John was unable to get a grip on the match, and fell in straight sets, 2-6, 2-6, 4-6. Fabrice Santoro went on to get annihilated by Fedex in the next round, who showed the magician some of his own magic tricks.

Stay tuned for an update

Alex met with Jordan Isner today to discuss collaboration opportunities for a new website that will help John get in touch with his fans as he climbs the ATP ranks.  Stay tuned for more details.  Meanwhile, check out JohnIsnerTennis.com for updates and remember to tune in to the Ozzie Open for the Santoro match!

John to play Fabrice Santoro in the 1st Round in Australia

John heads to the South Pacific to take on the veteran Frenchman Santoro, also known as "the magician" for his crafty and unorthodox playing style.  Two-handed forehand slice anyone?  John will be facing off with Santoro on Day 2, Tuesday (Monday here in the U.S), on ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel.  Don't miss it!

A picture of John Isner right before he signed my autograph after his win over Mardy Fish in Greensboro, NC, in early December. He is even cuter in person than on TV and that serve is unbelievable! No question that John Isner is going to be the next big U.S. success story.

John Isner vs. Mardy Fish - 12/7 in GSO!

Join us for a night of high-level, fast-serving tennis action as Greensboro's own John Isner takes on the veteran tour pro Mardy Fish! The event will be held in the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday, December 7th at 7:30pm!

But that's not the best part… for the limited time of October 22nd-28th, USTA members residing in North Carolina will have an exclusive chance to buy tickets before they go on sale to the public!

Long Shot

"Can a laid-back, 6-foot-9, four-year college student named John Isner really be the next, um, big thing in American tennis?"  begins the article on our main man John.  Some quotes from the article (available on tennis.com soon - simply click on "Current Issue" in the bottom left and get yourself a digital copy):

First Set Goes to Isner!

In an exciting, unbeatably intense first set, Isner pounds down 130+ mph serve after serve (his serve percentage was twice as effective on the deuce side, interestingly enough), sending the Federer Express reeling into a tiebreaker, where Isner, after going up a minibreak, proceeded to close out the set - sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy, and making the world number one lose his first set of the tournament.