Ace king John Isner calls it a day after US Open loss to Michael Mmoh

NEW YORK – Josh Zipin, a tennis fan, rushed over from Arthur Ashe Stadium to the Grandstand court of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre on Thursday hoping to catch the final set of John Isner’s US Open singles match.

Zipin, 34, said he had never seen Isner play live, and wanted to see what his “insane” serve looked like in person.

“Somebody was asking if Isner served to you 100 times, how many times could you return it in the court and the person sitting behind me said one,” he said. “I think that’s probably being generous.”

For 16 years, Isner, the 38-year-old American star, has wowed fans around the world with his signature game, which combined a booming serve, powerful groundstrokes, and quick hands at the net with volleys and overheads.

As he called it a day on his career on Thursday, he added 48 more aces to his record tally of 14,450.

But he is perhaps best known for winning the longest match in tennis history when he played for 11hr 5min over three days against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010. That match, along with another Isner marathon at the tournament in 2018, led Wimbledon to institute a final-set tiebreak.

Isner finished the year in the top 20 of the singles rankings for 10 straight years, from 2010 to 2019, but has never won a Grand Slam. He was a US Open quarter-finalist in 2011 and 2018, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2018 and has earned nearly US$23 million (S$31 million) in career prize money.

Andy Murray, one of Isner’s contemporaries, said during an interview this week that Isner “was always a disaster to play against or see in your draw”, adding that “his serve’s the best of all time”.

Isner had announced before the US Open that the tournament would be his final act so that he could spend more time with his wife Madison and their four children.

The American won his first-round match on Tuesday in straight sets against Facundo Diaz Acosta. But on Thursday, he was defeated 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (10-7) by a younger American named Michael Mmoh, who stayed composed despite playing before a crowd that was solidly in his opponent’s corner.

When the match was over, Isner buried his head in a white towel and fought back tears. He could barely speak during the on-court interview.

Then, not quite ready to call it a career, he slung his bag over his shoulder and trudged off to play doubles. A few hours later, that too was in the books, as he and fellow American Jack Sock, who is also retiring after the US Open, lost in three sets.

Later, Isner said that he was feeling many emotions – disappointment over how he played, gratitude to have one last time to compete in the atmosphere at the US Open, and pride in what he achieved throughout his career.

“It’s a tough way to go out but, at the same time, I went out in front of a packed stadium and a standing ovation and it was pretty cool,” he said.

“Tennis is a...” he added before trailing off and lowering his head to gather himself.

“It’s been a huge part of my life, so it’s tough to say goodbye, it’s not easy.” NYTIMES