John Isner is retiring from tennis after the US Open. He played in the sport’s longest match
John Isner will retire from professional tennis after playing at the U.S. Open, he announced Wednesday, bringing an end to a career that included one Grand Slam semifinal appearance and a victory in the longest match in the sport’s history.
“This transition won’t be easy but I’m looking forward to every second of it with my amazing family,” the big-serving, 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) American wrote in a posting on social media that included a photo showing Isner, his wife and their four children.
“Time to lace ‘em up one last time,” the 38-year-old Isner said, referring to the year’s last major tournament, which begins in New York on Monday.
Isner reached a career-best ranking of No. 8 in 2018, shortly after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, won 16 singles titles and has hit more than 14,000 aces, an ATP Tour record. That includes 113 — the single-match mark — in his win against Nicolas Mahut that lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes across parts of three days in the first round at the All England Club in 2010 and ended at 70-68 in the fifth set.
He was born in North Carolina and played tennis at the University of Georgia before turning pro in 2007.
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