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Actually, before we get into a discussion about John Isner's next singles match - it's roughly 8 p.m Wednesday night in Louis Armstrong Stadium against qualifier Rik De Voest. - we should revisit the issue of his nickname.

The obvious one is Big John, which is why we naturally avoided it. My first impulse - as always - was to go with a Seinfeld reference. So, playing off The Wiz episode (Nobody beats The Wiz! Nobody!) I went with The Is.

Upon further review, I've decided that this nickname might be a bit too obsure (I know, I know, hard to believe). Then I read an article this morning that said that the crowd was chanting "Let's go Izzy!" for Isner.

Hmm.....

Izzy's not bad. Kind of reminds me of former Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin. But it needs something more.

How about The Big Izzy? Not bad, huh? Whaddya say?

There, with that out of the way, we can talk more about The Big Izzy's next match. He's saying all the right things, but it has to be tempting for him to look past De Voest to the man he'd almost be certainly meet if he makes the third round - Roger Federer.

Still, I think The Big Izzy will stay on track. He's still new to this whole pro success thing, so every match is big - no matter who the opponent is. And he probably knows that a win means 40 more ranking points and a leap of about 20-25 more spots up the ATP ladder. Plus, it's not like John has been operating with a huge margin for error (tiebreaker anyone?) so I think he'll have the proper focus.

A couple of interesting tidbits. 1) Leyton Hewitt reportedly got ready for his first-round match against 6-5 Amer Delic by practicing with The Big Izzy. 2) Isner's first-round victim Jarko Nieminen couldn't help but gush about The Big Izzy's serve. Get a load of this.

"It was the most difficult serve I have returned," said Nieminen, who kept having to reach above his shoulders to try to put a racket on the ball. "This is the best serve I have seen."

Best serve he's ever seen? Hey, I've faced off against it and I'd have to agree. Of course, my frame of reference (S.C. junior tennis) isn't quite on the same level. But as a long time viewer of tennis on tv, I'd have to at least say it's the best serve I've seen since Goran Ivanesivic was in his prime.

3) Isner's in the doubles draw, as well with partner Scott Oudsema. Unfortunately, they've drawn the No. 1 seeds, the Bryan Brothers - Bob and Mike. Haven't figured out when they're going to play yet. For some reason, the match is not listed on the Wednesday schedule.

4) One other point. Watching American qualifier Scoville Jenkins get rolled by Roger Federer, I was struck by another argument for Isner's path to the pros. Jenkins was a hot commodity as a junior and turned pro at age 18 in 2004. Three years later he's struggling along, ranked No. 319. No longer a big name in U.S. tennis, Jenkins isn't getting wildcards anymore. Instead, he's having to fight his way through as a qualifier just to get into the main draw.

The lesson? You've got a limited window of opportunity right after you turn pro. If you've got some sort of buzz, as both Jenkins and Isner did, you'll get a few wildcards into ATP events. Do something with those wildcards - as The Big Izzy has - and you can pick up ranking points quickly, rise in the rankings and carve out a spot on the highest level of the tour, in the best events. Struggle during that period - as Jenkins did - and you'll have to grind your way up the ladder by earning a few points here and there in Futures and Challenger tournaments.

So you'd better be ready to go when you turn pro. At age 22, after four years in college, Isner clearly is.