John Isner is retiring from tennis after the US Open. He played in the sport’s longest match #John #Isner #retiring #tennis #Open #played #sports #longest #match

John Isner will retire from professional tennis after playing at the U.S. Open, he announced Wednesday, bringing an end to a career that included one Grand Slam semifinal appearance and a victory in the longest match in the sport’s history.

“This transition won’t be easy but I’m looking forward to every second of it with my amazing family,” the big-serving, 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) American wrote in a posting on social media that included a photo showing Isner, his wife and their four children.

“Time to lace ‘em up one last time,” the 38-year-old Isner said, referring to the year’s last major tournament, which begins in New York on Monday.

Isner reached a career-best ranking of No. 8 in 2018, shortly after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, won 16 singles titles and has hit more than 14,000 aces, an ATP Tour record. That includes 113 — the single-match mark — in his win against Nicolas Mahut that lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes across parts of three days in the first round at the All England Club in 2010 and ended at 70-68 in the fifth set.

He was born in North Carolina and played tennis at the University of Georgia before turning pro in 2007.