WHAT HAPPENED: The end came quickly. The emotion came after.
In his final singles professional match, John Isner did what he has always done best—serve big—serve big—and competed the way he always has—to the very end. But this time, by the narrowest of margins, it wasn’t quite enough, with Michael Mmoh moving on and Isner, who announced that this year’s Open would be the final tournament of his professional career, left to soak in the cheers from the capacity crowd.
Mmoh defeated Isner in a heart-stopping five-setter Thursday in the Grandstand, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6, winning the last four points of a back-and-forth match tiebreak to outduel his fellow American.
Afterward, Isner addressed the fans on court, his voice breaking, to express his gratitude for their support and for his outstanding career.
“It’s tough,” said a visibly emotional Isner. “This is why I worked as hard as I have my whole life, to play in atmospheres like this. You may not win them all, as we know, like today, but to play in front of this crowd, to have the support I had, is pretty special.”
With the victory, Mmoh advances to the third round at the US Open for the first time. In his on-court remarks, he took the opportunity to commend his compatriot, who has finished as the top-ranked American in the world rankings on eight occasions, second only to Jimmy Connors among U.S. men.
“I want to give massive congrats to John on an incredible career,” said Mmoh, 25, who is into a Grand Slam third round for the second time in his career, along with this year’s Australian Open. “Obviously, this is a special moment for me, but it’s an even more special moment for John for all he’s done in his career.”
Isner, 38, announced his plan to retire the week before the start of this year’s Open, making every match a potential last chance to see him in action. On Thursday, the fans were clearly on his side, calling out his name after each ace and every winner, trying to will him across the finish line.
But the 25-year-old Mmoh had other plans. He played a brilliant third-set tiebreak to extend the encounter, finally broke Isner in the fourth set—he had just two break opportunities in the first three sets combined, converting neither—and even denied his opponent a match point in the fifth set, summoning a winning serve out wide down 5-4, 40-30, to stay in the match.
The match tiebreak—the 55th US Open tiebreak of Isner’s career—was high drama, played before a standing-room only crowd that included young American standouts Christopher Eubanks and Ben Shelton, with fans packing the Open’s third-largest stadium and ringing the shaded parts of the walkway.
Isner pulled out to early leads at 2-0 and again at 4-2 in the breaker, but Mmoh wouldn’t relent, the scoreboard spinning to 2-2, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7, the tension building with each point. At 7-7, Mmoh tracked from baseline to net to force a missed backhand volley by Isner to go up 8-7. That was followed by an errant Isner forehand a low backhand volley into the net.
And just like that, the match was over, the two men embracing at the net and Mmoh moving on to the Round of 32.
“John was playing really well in the first two sets,” Mmoh said. “I just made a deal with myself that even if I went down in straight sets, I was going to go down fighting. And that turned the match for me.”
It was a gutty performance from Mmoh, who overcame Isner’s 48 aces and 94 winners to advance, forcing the North Carolina native into 63 unforced errors and 48 forced errors, all while committing just 29 unforced errors (against 48 winners) of his own.
“No doubt the biggest win of my career,” said Mmoh, “in front of this crowd, in front of the home crowd. It’s beyond special.”
WHAT IT MEANS: For Isner, it’s the end of a long and remarkable career—one that included a career-best ranking of No. 8, 16 tour singles titles, 15 Davis Cup singles victories, two US Open quarterfinals, and one Wimbledon semifinal, not to mention his memorable victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon that ran 11-plus hours and ended 70-68 in the fifth set. Above all else, it was a career in which the former University of Georgia standout stood as the standard-bearer for American tennis, a position he commanded with grace and good humor throughout.
For Mmoh, the victory is the continuation of a breakthrough season that includes wins over Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open, Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon, Denis Shapovalov in Delray Beach, No. 11 seed and 2022 US Open semifinalist Karen Khachanov in the first round here—and now, over the best American player of his generation.
Next up is rising British star Jack Draper, who ousted No. 17 seed Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets early Thursday afternoon. A victory there and Mmoh would advance to the second week of a Grand Slam event for the first time in his career, with No. 8 seed Andrey Rublev looming as a potential Round-of-16 opponent.
MATCH POINT: Despite the loss, the US Open registers as the most successful Slam of Isner’s long career. He went 32-16 in his career in New York, compared to 15-14 at the Australian Open, 22-14 at the French Open and 18-14 at Wimbledon.
