WASHINGTON, August 24, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)
John Isner will always be remembered for his 2010 Wimbledon first-round victory over Nicolas Mahut that set a modern-day record for the longest match in the history of tennis — 11 hours, 5 minutes across portions of three days — that ended at 70-68 in the fifth set. He set a single-match mark of 113 service aces. There’s a commemorative plaque on the wall outside Court 18 of the All England Club where the Isner-Mahut marathon was played.
On Wednesday, the big-serving 38-year-old American, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 8 in July 2018, soon after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, announced he will retire from professional tennis after playing at the U.S. Open, which begins Monday. The 2023 US Open will be Isner’s 17th consecutive appearance in the season’s last major. His first-round opponent will be No. 93 Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina.
After 17+ years on the @atptour, it’s time to say goodbye to professional tennis. This transition won’t be easy but I’m looking forward to every second of it with my amazing family.
The @usopen will be my final event. Time to lace ‘em up one last time. ❤️ ♥️ 💜 pic.twitter.com/GyRTXGNK8G
— John Isner (@JohnIsner) August 23, 2023
“This transition won’t be easy but I’m looking forward to every second of it with my amazing family,” the 6-foot-10-inch (2.08-meter) Isner wrote in a social media post. It included a photo of Isner, his wife Madison, and the couple’s four children.
“Time to lace ‘‘em up one more time,” said Isner, who finished ranked in the Top 20 for 10 consecutive years from 2010-19. He was given a main draw wild card into this year’s US Open, an event he’s twice been a quarterfinalist, in 2011 and 2018. Last year, Isner reached the second round.
John Isner, leader of American men’s tennis for much of the last decade, announces that the US Open will be his last tournament
38 years old & father of four young children, he told me recently it was getting harder to go on the road
One of the great servers in #tennis history pic.twitter.com/xII4RoW5sB
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) August 23, 2023
Isner, who was born in Greensboro, N.C. and now resides in Dallas, Texas, played collegiate tennis at the University of Georgia, where he was a 4-time All-American. He helped the Bulldogs win the 2007 NCAA team tennis championship before turning professional later that year. As a pro, Isner has earned more than $22 million in prize money and was the highest-ranked American man for many years. He’s won 488 ATP Tour-level matches, 16 ATP Tour singles titles (11 hard court, 4 grass, 1 clay) and hit 14,411 aces, an ATP Tour record.
This season, Isner has appeared in just 13 tournaments and recorded an 8-13 win-loss record, which includes first-round losses in each of the year’s first three majors. He is currently ranked No. 158.
“There comes a time in every athlete’s career that they have to decide to hang it up. For me, that time is now,” Isner wrote on Instagram. “I didn’t come [to] this decision lightly, but I feel it is the right way to go. When I left the University of Georgia in 2007, there was no way I could have imagined playing 17 years on the ATP Tour.
“Of course, there are countless matches I wish I could have back, but I am proud of what I was able to accomplish. The journey was nothing short of incredible.”
