John Isner announces he will retire from tennis after the US Open – ‘Time to lace ’em up one last time’

American John Isner has announced that he will retire from tennis after this year’s US Open.

The 38-year-old has served a record 14,411 aces in his career, winning 16 singles titles in his career and achieving a career-high ranking of eighth in 2018.

Isner famously competed in the longest tennis match in history at Wimbledon in 2010. He beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 in an epic encounter which lasted over 11 hours and five minutes.

In that match – which took place over three days – Isner served a record 113 aces.

“There comes a time in every athlete’s career that they have to decide to hang it up. For me, that time is now,” Isner posted on social media.

“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.

“The US Open will be my final event. Time to lace ’em up one last time.”

Isner produced his career-best run at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2018, reaching the semi-finals before he was defeated by Kevin Anderson.

He also has two quarter-final appearances at his home US Open, in 2011 and 2018, losing to Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro respectively.

Between 2012 and 2020 he was the top-ranked American in the year-end rankings and finished inside the top 20 for a decade from 2010.

The 38-year-old has also earned at least one victory against all of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.

The US Open gets underway on Monday.