John Isner closes in on incredible 14 000-ace milestone
- Planet Sport writer
- 11 January 2023
John Isner knows he is in the twilight of his tennis career, but he is determined to enjoy his final few years on the ATP Tour and notch up a few more milestones.
At the age of 37, Isner is currently the oldest player in the top 100 of the ATP Rankings and he is quite proud of that achievement.
Another feather in his cap is that he holds the records for most aces served since records began in 1991 as he took his tally to 13 988 during his first-round defeat at the hands of qualifier Gregoire Barrere at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Having started his career in 2007, the American reached a career-high of No 8 in 2007, but has slipped to No 42 and he knows father time is catching up with him.
"I am still feeling pretty good," told ATPTour.com. "I know I am in the twilight of my career and a lot of players my age aren't playing anymore, so I think I'm very fortunate to still be playing. I think I'm the oldest player in the top 100, which is actually something I'm very proud of.
"I still like to compete, it keeps me going. I'd be lying to you if I told you I love all the work that goes in. Sometimes practice can get pretty monotonous, but I do love the training and off court I am just trying to get myself in a good spot to compete with players much younger than I am. You can't play tennis forever, so I want to try to make this last as long as possible. I am ready to achieve some really cool things this year."
The 16-time ATP singles title winner, who reached the Wimbledon semi-final in 2018, is hoping to get to 500 career wins before he eventually calls it a day.
He currently sits on 480 wins - of course one of those wins was his marathon first-round victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 with the match taking a record 11 hours and five minutes to complete.
"I would love to get 500 wins," he said. "I've never set performance goals for myself. I've always had the motto to work hard and take care of myself and let the results fall where they fall. But I would love to get to 500 wins.
"I think that'd be an amazing milestone for myself. Something I never could have imagined in a million years myself doing when I turned pro at 22 years old."
