By Erik Gudris | @ATNTennis | Saturday, August 26, 2023
If asked if his tennis career was a surprise, John Isner would be the first to say yes.
But now the 38-year-old Isner is calling time on his career. The former top ten player and U.S. No. 1 will play his final event at next week’s US Open.
Alcaraz: All Systems Go For Open Title Defense
"Oh, yeah, for sure. I think I've overachieved. I never imagined myself having this much success for this long,” Isner said in a pre-tournament press conference when asked if he feels he got more out of his career than he thought he would.
“Mentioned in one of my statements, of course there's so many matches I wish I could have back, but I prepared in my mind as best as I possibly could for 17 years. I don't have many regrets, that's for sure.”
After a successful college career at the University of Georgia, the Greensboro, North Carolina native burst onto the pro tour with a memorable run at the ATP 500 event in Washington, D.C. back in 2007.
Getting in the main draw with a wildcard at only his second pro-level event, Isner stunned many tennis fans with his massive serve. He used that serve to win multiple tiebreaks on his way to his first ATP final. As tennis fans know now, winning tiebreaks with his serve, which produced 14,411 aces (still the ATP record for any player) became Isner's calling card worldwide. Isner lost that D.C. final to Andy Roddick.
Yet, in some ways, that match proved to be something of a passing of the torch as Isner would go on years later to become U.S. No. 1.
"I never felt like it was a burden to be the No. 1 American," Isner said when asked if he felt any burden on being the top American for so long. "I think in a sense I sort of came on tour with not much pressure on myself. Of course, there weren't many expectations for me. That helped me out a lot. Of course, I did take pride in being the best I could be. I always did want to be the No. 1 American. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't. I never felt like there was this huge, enormous burden on me to try to get there."
While Isner may have never won a major title, his career accomplishments are impressive, with some of his most memorable wins forever a part of tennis history.
Reaching a career high of World No. 8, Isner won 16 career singles titles, including the Miami ATP 1000 Masters. His best showing at a major was when he reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018. Isner played multiple times on the U.S. Davis Cup team and during that time one of his biggest career wins came against Roger Federer during the Switzerland/U.S. tie, on clay, in 2012.
Yet the victory that Isner will probably be most remembered for is his incredible three-day, over 11 hours, five-set win over France's Nicolas Mahut in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010. That match became, and is still, the longest singles tennis match in history.
When asked to look back at that historic match, Isner said, "No, it actually doesn't seem like that long ago, which is crazy. The Wimbledon match doesn't seem like 13 years ago either."
"I've had a lot of great moments," Isner later reflected on his career." A lot of moments not so great. Some awesome moments in Davis Cup. I beat Roger Federer in Switzerland one time. That was cool. The court was really bad, bad bounces were everywhere. He didn't like that. I loved it. The worse the court, the better for me (smiling). It's not so much individual matches that stick out. It's just the memories I have with my friends on tour. Then the last three, four, five years, my family on tour. Very special."
Isner is still determining what's next for him after tennis. He may try to do some TV commentary and other projects. Yet he is most looking forward to spending more time with his family after a long, yet productive 17 years on tour.
"Fortunately for me, the most important thing is that I've got an amazing life at home. I'm going to lean on my wife and kids as much as I possibly can to fill that void. I'm going to need to stay busy, because that's how I'm wired. I can't just be home all the time. Of course, I'm going to be the best dad I can possibly be. I'm going to have to channel my energy elsewhere and attack some different avenues professionally to keep me going."
John Isner will play Facundo Diaz Acosta in the US Open first round.
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport