Though he may not have come away with the victory, falling to Jannik Sinner in the third round of Wimbledon today, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3, John Isner achieved history anyway, breaking the ATP’s all-time aces record.
Going into the match, Isner trailed Ivo Karlovic by four aces—13,728 to 13,724. He hit his fourth and fifth aces of the day in the third game of the match to tie and break the record, and eventually blew past the Croat’s record by 20 after hitting a total of 24 aces in the match.
“I’m actually very happy to break the record here,” the American said. “To do it at this tournament, I think, is pretty cool. Makes it maybe a little more special than to do it at a tournament not of this magnitude.”
ATP’S ALL-TIME CAREER ACE LEADERS (stats kept since 1991)
13,748: John Isner
13,728: Ivo Karlovic
11,478: Roger Federer
This was Isner’s fifth time reaching the third round of Wimbledon, and he recorded the best Grand Slam result of his career here four years ago, reaching the semifinals before falling to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24.
The No. 10-seeded Sinner will face No. 5 seed Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16.