He did not win the Grand Slam trophy, he was not the first... Nevertheless, the American John Isner left an indelible mark in world tennis, setting numerous records before retiring at the age of 38.
The 208 cm tall tall man from North Carolina lost his last match to fellow countryman Michael Mmo, despite leading 2:0 in sets. He announced his retirement after the US Open, and that happened on Thursday evening - after the second round.
On the same night, Isner also lost the men's doubles match in which his partner was fellow countryman Jack Sock, who was also eliminated.
Isner had a match point against his young compatriot, an opportunity to postpone the farewell, but...
- It's really hard for me, but I've been striving all my life, working tirelessly to play in such a magnificent atmosphere. You can't always win, and there was a defeat, but to play in front of such an audience, to feel such support as I had, is something special. That's why I thank you - said Isner, who could hardly hold back tears after the match.
In his career, Isner won 16 ATP trophies, lost 15 finals, and his most important tournament is the Masters in Miami and the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2018. However, no one will remember the 208-centimeter-tall tennis player for that. That's why he wants to serve, but also the longest match in history. Isner ended his career as the record holder for the number of served aces - 14.470.
In second place is Croatian Ivo Karlović with 13.728, and in third place is Roger Federer with 11.478.
Isner also holds the record for the fastest serve on the ATP tour of 253 kilometers per hour. It is true that Sam Grot once "fired" as much as 263 kilometers per hour and Albano Olivetti 257,5 km/h, but the challengers are not counted in the official statistics.
And it's not just Isner's records, in his career he played 839 sets in tie-breaks, he won 505 of them and both numbers are records! How well he served is shown by the fact that Isner is only one of three tennis players who managed to reach the ATP title without giving his rivals a single chance to break.
He did it in Newport in 2017, before him only Tommy Haas managed to do it in Memphis in 2007, and after Isner, Australian Alex de Minaur repeated the success in Atlanta in 2019.
However, the highlight of Isner's career was the match of the first round of Wimbledon in 2010, when he won against Frenchman Nicolas Mau with an incredible 70:68 in the fifth set. The match lasted as long as 11 hours and five minutes and forced the organizers of the Grand Slam tournament to change the rules.
In that match, he served 113 aces, which is also a record. Mau also surpassed Karlović's previous record of 78 aces in that match, as the Frenchman won 103 points from the serve. Isner achieved a record 246 winners in that match.
- It wasn't easy for me at all, but in a tie-break you don't think that it's the last match for the rival, and especially not when he had the match point. When I won, I was very happy, but just a second later I was very embarrassed. It's a kind of bitter joy, I sympathize with him, but we all come with the goal of winning - emphasized Isner's last rival, Mmo
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