US Open: John Isner announces he will retire after final hurrah at this year’s tournament: ‘Time to lace ’em up one last time’
US Open: John Isner announces retirement after final hurray at this year’s tournament: ‘Time to put them on one last time’
- Isner hit over 14,000 aces, a Tour record, and won the longest match ever
- The American reached the best position in his career in 2018: number 8 in the world
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American tennis star John Isner announced on Wednesday that he would retire after playing at the US Open.
His retirement will end a career that has included one Grand Slam semifinal and victory in the longest match in the sport’s history.
“This transition won’t be easy, but I look forward to every second of it with my wonderful family,” the serving six-foot-tall Isner wrote in a statement. post on social media including a photo showing himself, his wife and their four children.
“Time to put them on one last time,” said 38-year-old Isner, referring to the last major tournament of the year, which starts in New York on Monday.
Isner reached a career-best ranking of No. 8 in 2018, shortly after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon. He has won 16 singles titles and hit over 14,000 aces, an ATP Tour record.
American tennis star John Isner has announced that he will retire after the US Open
His career best was No. 8 in the world and he won 16 singles titles during his career
That includes 113 – the score for one match – in his victory against Nicolas Mahut that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over parts of three days in the 2010 All England Club first round, finishing 70-68 in the fifth set.
There is now a plaque commemorating that match on the wall outside Court 18 where it was played.
“Especially when the game was over, you know, 25-all, I wasn’t really thinking,” Isner said in 2010.
“Hitting a serve and trying to hit a forehand winner is all I did.”
That match and Isner’s loss to Kevin Anderson by a score of 26–24 in the fifth set in the semifinals at Wimbledon eight years later were much of the impetus for the sport’s eventual move to standardizing tiebreaks in the deciding sets at all Grand Slam tournaments. .
Born in North Carolina, Isner played tennis at the University of Georgia, where he helped the school win the 2007 NCAA team tennis championship before turning pro that year.
Isner won over $22 million in prize money and was the highest ranked American man for many years.
He’s only gone 8-13 in 2023 and his ATP ranking has dropped to number 158 this week.
Isner also hit over 14,000 aces, an ATP Tour record, and won the longest match ever
Isner was out in the first round of each of the season’s first three Grand Slam tournaments. The last time he reached the third round at a major was last year at Wimbledon, when he defeated Andy Murray on Center Court.
It’s no secret that I’m definitely not a better tennis player than Andy Murray. I was maybe just a little better than him today. It was an incredible honor to play him on this field, in front of this crowd,” Isner said that day.
“At the age I am now, I have to enjoy these moments. This was one of the biggest wins of my career.’