John Isner, the top-ranked American player, says that his father, Bob, is running for Congress in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“It just felt like time,” Bob said, according to *USA Today*.
The 31-year-old, who lives in Florida now, has reached the third round of the French Open and will play Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili next.
“I definitely will support him," John said. "I've donated, and am obviously pulling for him, but I cannot vote for him because I'm not registered there anymore.”
Bob is currently in Paris, cheering on his son.
“It’s kind of wild,” Bob said. “I have a good message. I’ve done a lot of good work in downtown Greensboro … and [I] want to be a business-friendly Democrat. Being an engineer, I’m a problem solver. That’s what I want to be for two parties that have become so divided.”
Isner, ranked 17th in the world, says that he doesn’t normally pay attention to politics, but now he’s watching his father campaign.
“He knows what it's like to run a small business and have six, seven people working for you,” John said. “He’s a pretty moderate Democrat, so it's not one way or the other, for sure. I think he could bring some positive change, for sure.”
Isner has yet to go very deep at the French Open in his career. His best result came in 2014, when he reached the fourth round. He defeated Tommy Robredo before falling to Tomas Berdych in straight sets.