Tennis: Home boy Isner aims to do better overseas

At No14 John Isner is the top ranked American and his serve remains his greatest weapon. Photo / Getty Images

Maybe it's the beer, the bagels or the baseball but it's fair to say John Isner likes the comforts of home.

Most people, let alone tennis players, might say that but the results are borne out in Isner's achievements as a professional.

Eight of the 28-year-old American's nine ATP career titles have come in the United States. The ninth, coincidentally, was in Auckland at the 2010 Heineken Open when he claimed his first title at that level.

At home, he's won 133 matches and lost 62. Outside of the US, that record sits at 72 wins and 70 losses.

"If I can go further outside of the States I would see a lot better success," said Isner, who begins his Heineken Open campaign today against qualifier Lukas Lacko.

"I really feel that for three years I would easily be a top-10 player inside the US and not outside. That's something I need to improve and something I will improve.

"There's no reason for that to be the case every year.

"I'm most comfortable at home, as anyone is wherever they are from, but I have to get better overseas and it's something I'm constantly having to work on. It's more of a mentality than anything."

There are more factors at work than merely being more comfortable playing in America.

The number of tournaments played in the US has dropped as the balance of power has shifted to Europe and it means Isner is often one of the top-ranked players at each tournament at home as many others choose to play elsewhere.

He won in Atlanta and Houston in 2013 and was also a finalist at Washington and Cincinnati. His best finish outside the US last year was in Beijing, where he was a quarter-finalist, and he failed to progress further than the third round at the three Grand Slam events he played.

At No14, Isner is still easily the top-ranked American and in 2012 was ranked as high as nine. Standing at 2.08m, his undoubted weapon is his serve and last year he sent down the most aces of any player on the ATP tour with 979.

He also holds the record for the most aces in a match with 113 when he famously beat Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon in 2010 - he won 70-68 in the fifth set in 11 hours and five minutes - and last year won the most tiebreakers on tour (38-18) and saved the most break points (71 per cent).

There's more to Isner than his serve and he thinks he has the overall game to be a consistent feature in the top 10.

"I believe I do," he said. "I know it's not easy and I'm not going to win every tournament and chances are I'm going to lose in a tournament more times than I'm not but I feel I need to be a little more consistent."

Isner received a first-round bye at the Heineken Open as the tournament's third seed - the top four seeds all got passage directly to the second round in the 28-man field - and it was a blessing given he came into the tournament with an ankle injury that saw him miss last week's Hopman Cup.

"It's definitely not ideal as far as preparation goes and it's very disappointing," he said. "I got hurt last year in Australia as well [and had to pull out of the Australian Open]. I don't think it's as serious as last year but I really need to be cautious and take care of it."