For John Isner, a learning experience against Rafael Nadal

The learning curve keeps getting steeper for John Isner, tennis student.

Wednesday’s lesson was 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The lecture, at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, was given by professor Rafael Nadal, whose specialty is the doctoral study of hitting a tennis ball so hard for so long that the other guy crawls off the court at the end and asks for his mommy.

Isner didn’t quite do that. He actually won a set, which, in the world of pro tennis, against the likes of Nadal, is beyond survival. Maybe even success.

Having never played the super Spaniard, Isner was asked about his expectation.

“Kind of exceeded it, to be honest with you,” he said. “I never played with him, never hit with him or practiced with him. His ball sure has some junk on it.”

Isner had about one chance in 50 of winning this fourth-round match, even though a large crowd stayed around with fingers crossed. The tennis fan in the desert is no different than most in this country, where rooting interest is extra for the underdog and hope springs eternal, no matter the odds, for the American guy.

Isner is an American guy. He spent four years at the University of Georgia, where, by his own admission, he wasn’t a particularly good tennis player until his junior year, and where he led his team to an NCAA title as a senior.

Now, he is No. 20 in the world and hopes that proper schooling, this ATP Tour of Hard Knocks, will let him keep climbing the ladder.

“I’m right there,” Isner said. “I know I’m improving, and I feel like I’m gobbling up ground on these guys, little by little.”

He also said, “Experience helps. I’ve never played any of those guys before, and now I’ve played with them: [Andy] Murray, [Novak] Djokovic and Nadal, all within two months of each other.

“I think the next time I play these guys, I can give them a better match.”

Isner is 6 feet 9. He walks the grounds here and people wonder if the Clippers’ season is over and some of the players have driven over to watch. OK, so people don’t wonder if the Clippers’ season is over. They know it has been since early December. But Isner’s height does make him appear more suited to going one-on-one with Chris Kaman than Nadal.

When Isner walked onto the court with Nadal, the instant imagery was of Little Red Riding Hood meeting the big bad wolf. Isner’s cap was turned backward like the skateboard kids, and he left it that way. His eyes were wide, his feet looked like skis and the light lime shirt was a failed St. Patrick’s Day tribute. Nadal strode out like he’d been there before, and he certainly has. The fire in his eye matches the red bandana on his head.

Interestingly, Isner, with one tour title and one fourth-round appearance as his best Grand Slam moment, is a month away from his 25th birthday. Nadal, with 36 titles that include six majors and 46 weeks at No. 1, is 23.

That’s because Nadal’s school years were spent learning about how to beat Roger Federer, while Isner’s school years were spent in school.

Isner said that was the best thing.

“I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I just wasn’t mature enough. I’ve always been a late bloomer at everything.”

Isner served big, firing 22 aces. When you are 6-9, you better serve big, because you won’t move as well as the smaller guys. Nadal’s rockets come from the baseline more than the serve. Each used his respective strength to avoid a break point until Isner served at 5-5 of the first set.

Nadal got it to 30-40, the shark smelled blood and the first set was history.

Isner got the break in the second set, turning Nadal from shark to caged lion in the deciding set. Nadal broke early and Isner wilted slowly in the desert heat.

“I just didn’t make enough first serves, and he made me pay,” Isner said. “That’s why he is Rafael Nadal.”

Lesson learned.

Afterward, Nadal was complimentary of Isner.

“Maybe will make a top player, a really top player, no?” Nadal said, in his delightful Spanglish. “Better don’t just talk more now? Because if he improves just a little bit more, gonna be very difficult to stop him, no?”

The English translation is that Isner is pretty good and if he is praised enough, he might think he is better than he is, so I’ll keep praising him. Give Nadal credit for being mostly sincere and certainly crafty.

Another lesson for Isner.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com