North Carolina State University Athletics
CARR: Charity Event to be Hosted at Isenhour Tennis Center
11/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Nov. 16, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. -
By A.J. CARR
On his climb to a No. 17 world ranking, John Isner defeated many tough tennis opponents.
Now he’s trying to help beat another formidable foe -- ovarian cancer. That’s the reason the former Georgia Bulldog will be at NC State’s J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center Nov. 20 to lead a charity exhibition.
Tickets for the 5 p.m. matches, which also will include Luke Jensen, Iriana Falconi and Lauren Herring, can be purchased for $50 and $75 at www.ovarianawareness.org. All the money will go to Duke Hospital for ovarian cancer research.
Isner has been touched by the disease. His mother survived ovarian cancer. And this year, Rhyne Andrews, a student at Georgia and daughter of former NC State All-American Andy Andrews was diagnosed with the illness.
So in the exhibition matches -- which include men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles -- Isner will be serving for a different purpose.
NC STATE CONNECTION
Wolfpack head men’s tennis coach Jon Choboy would liked to have had the 6-9 Isner on campus seven years ago.
“He was the first (recruit) I called,’’ said Choboy, who was named NC State’s men’s coach in 2003. “His dad went to State. His brother went to State. I went after him hard.”
But Isner committed to Georgia and led the Bulldogs to the national championship in 2007, the year Choboy’s Wolfpack advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s final eight.
Since those Georgia days, Isner, has made an impact on the pro tour. And his name will forever be etched in Wimbledon lore for that epic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-7, 70-68 win over Nicolas Mahut last summer in tennis’ longest match, one that took 11 hours 5-minutes to complete over several days.
“Fitness is a big reason he has moved up; he’s quite a good baseline player and has gotten a lot stronger,” said Choboy, who is glad to see Isner come to NC State now for this worthy cause.
