John Isner

In his US Open début, he defeated the 26th-seeded player, former quarterfinalist Jarkko Nieminen, firing 34 aces along the way.

He proceeded to win his second-round match against Rik de Voest, before losing in the third round to top seed and eventual champion Roger Federer.

Isner was one of only two players to take a set from Federer in the championship.

His US Open performance improved his ranking to no. 144.

After the US Open, Isner continued to play exclusively in North America and finished the year ranked no. 107.

That year, Isner was added to the United States Davis Cup team as a practice partner.

John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player.

He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Isner was born on April 26, 1985, in Greensboro, North Carolina, to Robert and Karen Isner.

He has two older brothers, Jordan and Nathan.

Isner started playing tennis at the age of 9 and did not take the sport seriously until the age of 11.

He played for his high school of Walter Hines Page Senior High School where he helped lead them to a state championship in 2001.

He also played in 10 junior tournaments which included the 2002 US Open (losing in the second round to eventual champion Richard Gasquet) and the 2002 Orange Bowl.

He also made the finals of a tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma, losing to Brian Baker.

Coming out of high school in 2003 as a heavily sought-after prospect, Isner was recruited by the University of Georgia Bulldogs.

He was dominant in college, compiling a win-loss record of 143–28 in singles and 140–27 in doubles.

He was ranked the top tennis player in the country on numerous occasions and won many tournaments.

Some highlights from his college career include winning the 2005 NCAA doubles title partnering with Antonio Ruiz-Rosales, winning the 2007 team event against Illinois and reaching the 2007 NCAA singles finals where he lost to Somdev Devvarman of Virginia in three sets.

He ended his college career after his singles final loss and team win in 2007 and turned professional.

Isner began his professional career in earnest in the summer of 2007.

With a world ranking of no. 839, he needed a wildcard entry into the main draws of every single tournament, even at Futures level.

He won his first tournament of the summer, the USA F14 Futures, beating the top three seeds along the way.

Then, after first-round losses at Challenger level as well as a tournament at ATP level, he beat five top-300 players and three seeds to win the Lexington Challenger in July and improve his ranking to no. 416 after just one month.

At the following week's tournament at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., a late withdrawal freed up a wildcard spot, which was given to Isner at the last minute.

Isner took full advantage of his good fortune, recording his first wins over top-100 players.

He won third-set tiebreakers on five consecutive days, beating no. 73 Tim Henman, no. 47 Benjamin Becker, no. 189 qualifier Wayne Odesnik, no. 12 Tommy Haas, and no. 54 Gaël Monfils, to reach the final, where he fell to fellow American Andy Roddick.

His week raised his ranking to no. 193 in the world after six weeks on the pro tour.

Isner's success in Washington, D.C. earned him wildcard entries into three more ATP tournaments—the Masters 1000 Series event in Cincinnati a week later, New Haven and the US Open.

He lost in the first round in Cincinnati to quarterfinalist no. 15 David Ferrer.

The following week in New Haven, he beat no. 49 Becker a second time, before falling to Ferrer for the second week in a row.

Isner's no. 106 ranking in November 2007 was just good enough to get him direct entry into his first Australian Open after several players ranked above him dropped out.

He was defeated in the first round of the 2008 Australian Open by veteran Fabrice Santoro of France.

Teamed with Croat Ivo Karlović, who stands half an inch taller (Karlović is currently the joint tallest player on the ATP World Tour alongside Reilly Opelka), Isner also lost in the first round of doubles.

Isner broke into the top 100 at no. 93 in February with a quarterfinal appearance at an ATP event in San Jose, beating no. 90 Florent Serra and no. 26 Tommy Haas.

At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, he played the longest professional tennis match in history, requiring five sets and 183 games to defeat Nicolas Mahut in a match which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, and was played over the course of three days.

He also twice reached the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2011 and 2018, the latter of which helped qualify him for an ATP Finals appearance later that year.

Isner holds the record for hitting the ATP's fastest "official" serve ever and third-fastest on record in tennis at 157.2 mph during his first-round 2016 Davis Cup match.

He has the most aces in the history of the ATP Tour, having served 14,470, as of August 31, 2023.

Isner retired from professional tennis following the 2023 US Open.

Considered one of the best servers ever to play on the ATP Tour, Isner achieved his career-high singles ranking in July 2018 by virtue of his first Masters 1000 crown at the 2018 Miami Open and a semifinal appearance at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.