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John Isner on Wednesday evening announced on social media that the US Open will be his final tournament. The American’s 17th consecutive appearance in his home major will be his last.
“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 Instagram. “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 38-year-old at Flushing Meadows will draw to a close his illustrious career, during which he has won 16 ATP Tour titles, won 488 tour-level matches and competed in the Nitto ATP Finals (in 2018).
Isner will leave behind a legacy as one of the greatest servers in the history of the sport. According to Infosys ATP Stats, he holds the record for most career aces with 14,411. No other player has hit the 14,000-ace mark and only five have reached 10,000 aces.
The American finished inside the Top 20 of the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings for 10 consecutive years from 2010-19 and was the year-end No. 1 American eight times (2012-16 and 2018-20). He reached a career-high World No. 8 in July 2018 after making his first major semi-final at Wimbledon.
Isner became the oldest first-time ATP Masters 1000 singles champion as a 32-year-old when he emerged victorious in Miami in 2018. He also has won five Masters 1000 doubles titles. The 38-year-old has also earned at least one victory against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
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