As he took in the less than awe-inspiring surrounds of the North Harbour Tennis Park in January this year, John Isner could have been forgiven for wondering how it had all come to this, not to mention just where the hell he was.

Surely this wasn't what they meant when they said the 2.06m giant with the huge serve and booming forehand would go places when he burst on to the professional tennis scene in 2007.

After picking up two lower-tier titles in his first three tournaments, the former collegiate star reeled off a record five straight wins in third-set tie-breaks as a wildcard in his first ATP start in Washington.

He eventually went down to Andy Roddick in the final but wins over Tim Henman, Tommy Haas and Gael Monfils as he fired a non-Grand Slam tournament record 144 aces suggested Isner would quickly make himself at home in the big time.

A couple of weeks later he battled into the third round of the US Open, where he took the first set off Roger Federer (yes, in a tiebreak) before succumbing in four to the great champion.

In the space of a few months his ranking had soared more than 500 places to inside the top 200. Surely this big thing was going to be just that for US tennis?

Well, no. Not yet, anyway. He broke into the top 100 last year but just as quickly slipped back out again. Tennis wasn't going to let him have his way with it quite that easily.

Fast forward to January and Isner found himself on the Shore staring over the net at world No 266 Michael Lammer, his opponent in the first round of qualifying for this year's Heineken Open. His ranking of 144 meant that direct entry into even a bottom-rung ATP event such as Auckland was beyond him.

In the brutal eat-what-you-kill world of professional tennis, he also wouldn't earn a cent unless he could get past Lammer and two more qualifying hopefuls. He was a long way from centre court at Flushing Meadows.

"I did really well really quickly and a lot of huge things were expected of me. I didn't really live up to most of them and kind of fell under the radar a little bit," Isner recalls from his home in Tampa, Florida, where he is now putting his feet up and reflecting on a "surreal" comeback season.

That match against Lammer, which he won in his customary three-set slug-fest style, was the start of his journey back to the game's biggest stages.

Having now risen to a career-high ranking of 34, the likeable American will be one of the main attractions when he returns to Auckland in January.

Isner announced his return to the big time in August by knocking off hometown favourite Roddick in a thrilling fifth-set tiebreak (how else?) on centre court in the third round of the US Open.