The last of his kind is over after the US Open: John Isner is considered a service giant, which is rarely found in this form on the ATP tour.
Many a tennis pro should have breathed a sigh of relief after this news. Because with John Isner’s recent announcement that he’s after the US Open in new York will end his tennis career, a type of player will disappear from the big ATP stage that has almost driven many opponents crazy.
Few rallies, no game rhythm, almost only return-Game. A real impertinence for the vast majority of professionals. But that will soon be over. “After more than 17 years on the ATP Tour, it’s time to say goodbye to professional tennis“, Isner writes, among other things, on the platform formerly known as Twitter x.
In a global tennis circus, in which persistent rallies have been taking place even on the sacred lawn in Wimbledon for several years, so-called serve giants are a dying species anyway.
Clear leadership in front of Karlovic
Isner is – without offending him – one of the most impressive examples of this very special category. This includes players like US-American Roscoe Tanner, Englishman Greg Rusedski, Croatians Goran Ivanisevic and Ivo Karlovic, to name just a few, who have regularly threw the yellow felt ball over the net at over 240 km/h. But Isner (fastest measured serve: 253 km/h) has taken this serve strength to the top in his career.
The now 38-year-old managed a whopping 14,411 aces – direct serve points without opposing resistance – up to the US Open. He leads the ranking with a clear lead over Karlovic (13,728), who has already retired.
How important this strength is for Isner was shown in 2017 at the ATP tournament in Newport, USA. He won a tournament without conceding a single break point. Incidentally, Isner shares this record with the former German world-class player Tommy Haas, who also once managed this feat.
Victory against best friend Zverev
The North Carolina man, who entered the professional circuit through the University of Georgia, has won a total of 16 tour titles. The 2.08 meter tall man with shoe size 52 has brought in more than 22 million US dollars in prize money so far. Isner, who reached eighth place in the world rankings, celebrated his greatest success against his probably best friend in the tennis circus, Alexander Zverev.
Is especially known for his hard serves: John Isner
In 2018 he won the 1000 tournament in Miami against the German with whom he had previously trained together for many years at the Florida tennis camp in Saddlebrook – only around 500 kilometers away. Zverev thanked Isner at the award ceremony for many hours of training together “Even when I was a little boy of twelve. You were there for me so often.”
For even bigger achievements like winning one of the four Grand Slam-Tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) Isner’s skills weren’t enough. His groundstrokes are rock solid, but due to his size, he lacks the agility needed to consistently compete at the highest level.
Another record
And yet Isner has in Wimbledon and provided another special feature throughout the tour and made history. In 2010, Isner won the traditional All England Club the marathon of all games against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. Also held over three days due to the changeable weather, Isner left the field after eleven hours and five minutes as the overjoyed winner.
John Isner (left) and Nicolas Mahut after their record match.
The American won the last set, which alone lasted 8:11 hours, with 70:68 games on grass pitch 14. The longest match of all time up to that point was in 2004 Roland Garros between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clément, lasting 6 hours and 33 minutes. “This game will always have a special place in my heart. It was an experience like no other in tennis”Isner said of his historic triumph in London.
What’s next? A completely different life with his wife Madison McKinley and their four children. But before that, probably a few more aces on the hard courts US Open.