John Isner is known for two things - his aces and having the longest tennis match in history. Here we take a look at his major rivalries.
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The name of John Isner is well known in the world of tennis due to two major reasons. The first is how well he can hit aces.
Isner is only the second player in the history of tennis to have reached the 13,000-ace milestone. Ivo Karlovic was the first player in the game to record the illustrious milestone of 13,000 aces.
Isner’s prowess with regard to serves further extends with regard to the speed at which the same is recorded.
The American currently holding the record for registering the fastest “official” serve in ATP at 157.2 mph or 253 km/h.
The tennis player further accounted for the third-fastest serve on record in tennis, during the same instance in the first-round 2016 Davis Cup match.
The second reason Isner is known is, of course, that record-breaking match against Nicholas Mahut. In Wimbledon 2010’s first round, the two played what is officially the longest tennis match ever.
The length of the match? An astounding 11 hours and 5 minutes, with the final set ending 70-68 in Isner’s favour.
Besides this, he’s also won a respectable 22 titles – 16 in singles and 6 in doubles. And he’s been up and about there in the ATP rankings too.
Also read: Alex de Minaur vs Alexander Zverev vs Jannik Sinner – epic tennis rivalries
Given his status as one of the sport’s cult heroes, it is thus no surprise that he has mixed it up among the best of the best.
Thus, here we are going to look at his rivalries and his head-to-head record against a number of notable players on the tour.
Mahut and Isner will forever always be remembered for that match at Wimbledon, and understandably so. It was an epic in more ways than one. But it is also not the only time these two have faced off.
Isner and Mahut have faced each other 4 times in total, with the former clearly ahead in the rivalry. He’s won 3 of those matches, after all.
| Total matches | Matches won by Isner | Matches won by Mahut |
| 4 | 3 | 1 |
Amazingly, Isner has twice been a part of extremely lengthy matches at Wimbledon. The second of those came against none other than the South African Anderson.
And these two are quite familiar with each other. After all, they’ve played against one another a whopping 12 times. But Anderson has won only 4 of those bouts.
| Total matches | Matches won by Isner | Matches won by Anderson |
| 12 | 8 | 4 |
These two have faced off against each other 6 times now. And while Isner shaded their first two matches, their next 4 matches went the way of the Greek star.
Given how Tsitsipas’ star has risen, however, it is not that much of a surprise.
| Total matches | Matches won by Isner | Matches won by Tsitsipas |
| 6 | 2 | 4 |
