“Time to lace ‘em up one last time” – Isner to retire after US Open

The American has won 16 singles and 8 doubles titles in his career and peaked at No 8 in the world singles rankings

Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

August 24, 2023

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F. AcostavsJ. Isner

American John Isner, who has served more aces in professional tennis than any other player, has announced that next week’s US Open will be his final tournament before retiring.

The 38-year-old Isner made the announcement on social media in which he said, “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.”

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

I am proud of what I was able to accomplish. The journey was nothing short of incredible
John Isner

On Instagram, Isner spoke about his 17-year journey on the pro tour in his retirement message. “There comes a time in every athlete’s career that they have to decide to hang it up. For me, that time is now. 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.”

Isner, who will be playing his 17th consecutive US Open next week, has won 16 singles titles and 8 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and peaked at No 8 in the singles rankings and at No 14 in doubles. He has served 14,411 aces in his career – more than any other male or female tennis player since ace stats were first recorded.

He also reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2018, the same Grand Slam where he played the longest match in tennis history in 2010- a 11-hour, 5-minute E-P-I-C win over Nicolas Mahut in the first round which he won 70-68 in the deciding set. Isner also reached the quarter-finals at the US Open twice, and the fourth round at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros on multiple occasions.

Despite being often criticized as a servebot, Isner’s consistency among the game’s elite was remarkable as he finished in the year-end top 20 for 10 years in a row (from 2010 to 2019) and was the top-ranked American at the end of eight seasons.