John Isner reveals what he wants his legacy to be after retiring
Retiring US star John Isner has opened up on what he wants his legacy to be as a player.
Isner secured his place in tennis history by winning the longest match ever at Wimbledon but he hopes to live on through his relationship with fellow professionals.
He said that he will be in the corner of the young Americans who will fly the flag in the sport for years to come.
Isner retired after a fittingly epic five set battle with compatriot Michael Mmoh and was understandably overcome with emotion.
It wasn’t quite his 11-hour marathon match at Wimbledon in 2010 but Isner went down fighting.
Mmoh had mixed feelings about being the man to end Isner’s career but relished his role in making history.
“I want to give a massive congrats to John. Unbelievable career. Obviously this is a special moment for me but even more special for John. Everything he’s done the last 20 years. He’s been top 20 for 10 years in a row. Stuff like that isn’t easy to do,” Mmoh said.
Isner was given a warm farewell from the US Open crowd after the defeat and was allowed to soak it all in.
He hopes to be remembered as somebody who was very easy to get along with.
“What my legacy is? I’m not sure. I just want to be remembered most importantly from my colleagues, as a guy that’s pretty easy to get along with off court. I think I’ve had great relationships with the guys before me, my contemporaries, and then the young guys.
“I’m always gonna be in their corner when I’m long gone. I’d just want my legacy to be someone that was pretty affable & easy to get along with.”
Isner had revealed that he started to think about retirement after the French Open.
“My plan at the beginning of the year was not to retire. Truthfully, I wanted to play this sport for as long as I can, but I wanted to play it at a high level,” Isner said.
“My ranking is really bad right now. I haven’t ranked this low since I came on tour. It’s been 17 years of amazing consistency. Just trying to build my ranking back up with how my body’s feeling didn’t seem too appetizing for me.
“To answer your question, yeah, probably maybe after the French. After Wimbledon I think that confirmed that as well. I didn’t play a great match there. It’s fine. I mean, I’ve had an amazing run, so…
“I wasn’t going to announce it then. I knew probably after Wimbledon that I wanted this to be my last tournament, and here we are.”
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