NEW YORK — John Isner rested his chin on clasped hands, the words coming slowly, the tears welling in his eyes, as he spoke during a news conference at the U.S. Open on Thursday, his last day as a professional tennis player.
“It’s been a huge part of my life. It’s tough to say goodbye. It’s not easy,” said the 38-year-old American whose collegiate career at Georgia inlcuded helping the Bulldogs win an NCAA championship. “But eventually, this day would come. It’s hard to prepare for the emotions of it.”
As career-ending days go, it would be hard to come up with a more appropriate way for Isner to bow out than a pair of final-set tiebreakers — one in singles, one in doubles — and while he obviously would have preferred a victory or two, he did appreciate the raucous crowd support and standing ovations he was showered with at each defeat.
The 6-foot-10 Isner announced the week before play began at Flushing Meadows that this Grand Slam tournament would mark his farewell, and the guy who long was his country’s best male player bowed out in the second round of the singles bracket with a 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (10-7) loss to another American wild-card entry, Michael Mmoh.
A few hours later, Isner headed into full-fledged retirement by dropping a doubles match alongside Jack Sock, another American who has said the U.S. Open will be his last tournament. They were beaten by Robert Galloway and Albano Olivetti, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (10-3).