John Isner made tennis history not only with his legendary Wimbledon marathon against Nicolas Mahut. Today, the 2.08-meter man from the USA turns 41.
In 2010, he played one of the most legendary matches in tennis history at Wimbledon; he remained loyal to the sport until he reached an advanced age – now he is leading a new life.
Since 2023, 2.08-meter man John Isner, who turns 41 today, has been a tennis pensioner. He has a full everyday life: Isner, who lives in Texas, now has four children with jewelry designer Madison McKinley, whom he married in 2017.
Two years ago, he also joined the hype surrounding the trend sport of pickleball and celebrated his professional debut in the doubles at the Texas Open.
John Isner: No one hit more aces in tennis
Isner, born on April 26, 1985 in the city of Greensboro in North Carolina, was the highest-ranked American in the world from 2012 to 2020 and among the top 20 in the rankings from 2010 to 2019.
The giant won 16 ATP singles titles and replaced Ivo Karlovic as the player with the most aces on the ATP Tour in 2022 (currently: 14,470). Isner also holds the record for the fastest serve speed ever recorded (253 km/h in a Davis Cup match in 2016).
He is remembered even more for a legendary first-round appearance on the “sacred grass” in 2010.
Wimbledon marathon against Nicolas Mahut
16 years ago, he fought a duel with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut over three days with a pure playing time of eleven hours and five minutes. Isner won 6:4, 3:6, 6:7 (7:9), 7:6 (7:3), 70:68 – and hit 113 aces in the process.
Eight years later, Isner played another marathon match against Kevin Anderson in the 2018 Wimbledon semi-finals – which was the catalyst for the abolition of the tradition of no tie-breaks in the final set at all Grand Slam tournaments.
Isner’s semi-final appearance at the time was his greatest success on the Grand Slam stage: otherwise, he only made it past the last 16 twice at major tournaments: in 2011 and 2018, he made it to the last 8 at the US Open. Nevertheless, he raked in over 22 million dollars in prize money over the course of his career.
After a final appearance at the 2023 US Open, Isner turned over a new leaf.