John Isner withdraws from Monte Carlo

John Isner, who is playing the Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston this week, has withdrawn from next week's Monte Carlo Masters in order to rest and

John Isner, who is playing the Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston this week, has withdrawn from next week's Monte Carlo Masters in order to rest and train for the upcoming clay season. Via Tennis.com:

"I will go back home [to Florida after Houston] and work with my coach, Craig Boynton," Isner told reporters. "I need to get in better shape if I want to do good in these next two majors coming up and Masters events [in Madrid and Rome]. I need to be in better shape, put my head down, go back to work and get my body right."

It's a smart move for Isner, who has been playing non-stop since the end of February. He took a week off after the U.S. upset Switzerland in Davis Cup in mid-February, then played Memphis, Delray Beach, Indian Wells, Miami, Davis Cup in Monte Carlo and now Houston, with only a few days of rest between each tournament.

The Monte Carlo Masters would have been his seventh tournament in nine weeks. As it is now, he'll have about three weeks rest in the States before starting his European clay-court season in Madrid on May 5.