“Went to Ben Shelton and the guy was like ‘No, keep behind the fence!’” – John Isner reveals being denied access to players’ area at Indian Wells
John Isner recently revealed that he was denied access to the players' area at Indian Wells while approaching fellow American Ben Shelton for small talk. He shared the incident during a chat with former World No. 1 Andy Roddick.
Isner drew curtains on his professional tennis career at the US Open in 2023. In his final singles match, he suffered a heartbreaking loss in a five-setter against Michael Mmoh in the second round.
A day later, he joined his doubles partner Jack Sock for a first-round battle with the pair of Albano Olivetti and Robert Galloway and lost, thus, gracing the court as a professional for the final time.
Isner, who turned pro in 2006, recently joined Andy Roddick for an episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast and reflected on his post-retirement life thus far. He talked about his experience of being a TV presenter during the Indian Wells Open and Wimbledon this year and hilariously opened up about no longer having the privilege to the players' parking lot.
"I certainly miss it. I’m still very fresh, I’ve done some TV at Indian Wells and some TV at Wimbledon. Doing TV was a little bit weird, especially going to Indian Wells in my rental car and not having access to the player parking. I’m like what is that, going to the media parking lot a mile away? I was like ‘Can I just go in here?’ and they wouldn’t let me get in there," Isner told Roddick (at 2:27).
The 39-year-old also shared an incident involving Ben Shelton at Indian Wells where he walked up to the youngster for a chat but was told to remain behind the fence by a guard at the facility.
"I got denied access to the big soccer field there at Indian Wells and I didn’t try to fight it. It’s funny because I was like a media dude. I think I went to the field to go say ‘hey’ to Ben Shelton, and the guy just checked my baggage and was like ‘No, keep behind the fence!’. It was pretty funny," John Isner added.
John Isner: "I miss the competing, I miss the traveling"
Further, in the same episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, John Isner shared, with Andy Roddick, an insight he received from former athletes on handling the post-retirement life.
"It’s an adjustment Andy, I don’t know what you went through. I know you retired at a much younger age than I did but I certainly miss it. I think, speaking to other former athletes, not just tennis, they tell me it’s a 12 to 24-month process to sort of get over it," John Isner said (at 3:22).
The American continued:
"That’s what I’m experiencing, I’m not quite 12 months into my retirement but certainly a lot of aspects I miss about tennis. I miss the competing, in a weird way I miss the traveling."
John Isner achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 8 on the ATP singles tour and World No. 14 on the doubles. He won a total of 16 singles titles and eight on the doubles circuit between 2006 and 2023.