New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS): American tennis player John Isner has announced on social media that he will retire after playing at this year's US Open. His 17th consecutive appearance in his home major will be his last.
The 38-year-old at Flushing Meadows will draw to a close his illustrious career, during which he has won 16 ATP Tour titles, 488 tour-level matches and competed in the ATP Finals (in 2018).
"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."
"The US Open will be my last tournament, and I can't think of a better way to go out than competing in New York City. I have participated in the US Open for each of the 17 years of my career and I'm looking forward playing my last match in front of the American fans in Flushing Meadows," Isner wrote in a social media post on Thursday.
Isner will leave behind a legacy as one of the greatest servers in the history of the sport. According to 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 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.