Isner: 999 and counting

John Isner gets 999th ace in win
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=5733268

Auckland (5) : 68
Australian Open (4) : 95
Memphis (5) : 78
Acapulco (1) : 8
Indian Wells (3) : 38
Miami (2) : 40
Houston (1) : 14
Rome (2) : 36
Belgrade (4) : 58
Madrid (3) : 54
World Team Cham.(2) : 15
Roland Garros (3) : 55
Wimbledon (2) : 113
Atlanta (4) : 78
Washington (2) : 33
Cincinnati (2) : 16
US Open (3) : 76
Beijing (4) : 56
Shanghai (2) : 31
Montpellier (2) : 37

20 Tournaments / 56 matches / 999 aces

:) The 1000th ace probably agains Monfils.

Isner :worship:

Good stuff.

Come back, Ivo!

Lower this number by 75% and you have a top 80 player at the very best.

:bowdown:

That's still almost 500 short of Goran's record ;)

Lower this number by 75% and you have a top 80 player at the very best.

Yes...so?

That's still almost 500 short of Goran's record ;)

Surfaces were much faster back then though, there was carpet, Wimbledon wasn't "furry clay" yet...

It is scary to think what someone like Karlovic could have done in the '90s.

Surfaces were much faster back then though, there was carpet, Wimbledon wasn't "furry clay" yet...

It is scary to think what someone like Karlovic could have done in the '90s.

That's true, but compared to Goran, Ivo and Isner ar serving standing on a chair, so it more than evens out :p

Raonic will be another guy with many aces in the future, since his biggest weapon is his serve. Hell, some people are saying he's a serve mug! lol

:worship:
more than 1/10 of those aces came in one match :lol:

Raonic will be another guy with many aces in the future, since his biggest weapon is his serve. Hell, some people are saying he's a serve mug! lol

:D

goran :worship:

Lower this number by 75% and you have a top 80 player at the very best.

NGAF

Wayne Arthurs was a top 1000 player with top 1 serve.

Great job Ace-machine!

Yes...so?

Some people on this board portrait Isner as a good, skilled player. Someone should remind them that he's just a mug with a good serve, that's all :D

Surfaces were much faster back then though, there was carpet, Wimbledon wasn't "furry clay" yet...

It is scary to think what someone like Karlovic could have done in the '90s.

Interestingly the 10 largest number of aces in a match have happended in the last 11 years and 9 were in the last 6 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_records_relating_to_aces

Goran's best number was in 2001 having reached the final 3 times in 90's.

Lower this number by 75% and you have a top 80 player at the very best.

LOL. Make Isner shorter by 10% and you have top 20 player with no big serve but with great movement and ground strokes.

If Vilas had served 113 aces in each of his 144 matches in 1977 he could have reached 16272 aces in 1 season. I submit that number as the target for prospective ace champions.

Lower this number by 75% and you have a top 80 player at the very best.
His forehand is huge and his backhand is pretty good...his volleys are decent too...he'd still be top 30 I'd imagine.

He's no Karlovic.

Some people on this board portrait Isner as a good, skilled player. Someone should remind them that he's just a mug with a good serve, that's all :D

Serve is a specific (and challenging) tennis skill, just like forehand or court coverage. It is not something you automatically have at birth, like big nose or brown eyes.

Interestingly the 10 largest number of aces in a match have happended in the last 11 years and 9 were in the last 6 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_records_relating_to_aces

Goran's best number was in 2001 having reached the final 3 times in 90's.

True. I think it's a factor of there nowadays being more people with big serves, so the odds of having big server having good day against a mug returner have increased.

But there is no doubt that overall signifance of fast serve has been greatly reduced over last 10 years.

What's really most impressive is he only has two first round losses, both on clay, early in the season. Meaning he's been winning to the point he can accumulate such a high number of aces. Extremely impressive, big John doing really big things. Goran's record is amazing, though, probably never to be touched.

His forehand is huge and his backhand is pretty good...his volleys are decent too...he'd still be top 30 I'd imagine.

He's no Karlovic.

Top 30? No. I could see top 100. Not top 30, and top 50 questionable at best.

Top 30? No. I could see top 100. Not top 30, and top 50 questionable at best.

He wouldn't be top 100 with an average serve..... but it's a pointless discussion.

He wouldn't be top 100 with an average serve..... but it's a pointless discussion.

Yeah, no sense in discussing things that aren't reality. Reality is he's used his big serve and developed a decent enough overall game around it to become a solid top 20 player, good on him for it.

Lord Goran owns this thread...

The all-serve argument is always a pointless discussion. But here's a dose of logic just for the hell of it.

If Isner was 6'9 with an average serve and his current game, then yes he would suck. He wouldn't even be Top 100. He would also have to have pathetic technique on the serve, because anybody even close to that height should be a great server.

But while his height is a gift in regards to his serve, it also takes away from his movement...which affects every part of his game. When in position, Isner has respectable groundstrokes from both wings....when out of position, he is hopeless. This causes him to play more aggressively than most players, thus him developing the big forehand and using such a flat backhand. His movement doesn't really allow him to play any other way.

If you shorten Isner down to 6'1, his serve definitely isn't the weapon that it currently is. But his movement is much greater, so he wouldn't have to play so aggressively to have a chance and he likely would have developed other parts of his game out of necessity. I have a hard time believing that a player with Isner's heart and mentality would be a bad player under these circumstances....and it's quite possible that he'd be an even better player.

He wouldn't be top 100 with an average serve..... but it's a pointless discussion.

Dumb comment. Someone obviously hasnt seen Big John live. He has a huge FH (great technique/swin/motion), he moves well for a big guy, has great reach,good hands at the net,some nice flair for a big guy, bh is always improving. Future top10 player imo. For me he is a joy to watch.

Dumb comment. Someone obviously hasnt seen Big John live. He has a huge FH (great technique/swin/motion), he moves well for a big guy, has great reach,good hands at the net,some nice flair for a big guy, bh is always improving. Future top10 player imo. For me he is a joy to watch.

I've seen him over 30 times, I would guess.

The all-serve argument is always a pointless discussion. But here's a dose of logic just for the hell of it.

If Isner was 6'9 with an average serve and his current game, then yes he would suck. He wouldn't even be Top 100. He would also have to have pathetic technique on the serve, because anybody even close to that height should be a great server.

But while his height is a gift in regards to his serve, it also takes away from his movement...which affects every part of his game. When in position, Isner has respectable groundstrokes from both wings....when out of position, he is hopeless. This causes him to play more aggressively than most players, thus him developing the big forehand and using such a flat backhand. His movement doesn't really allow him to play any other way.

If you shorten Isner down to 6'1, his serve definitely isn't the weapon that it currently is. But his movement is much greater, so he wouldn't have to play so aggressively to have a chance and he likely would have developed other parts of his game out of necessity. I have a hard time believing that a player with Isner's heart and mentality would be a bad player under these circumstances....and it's quite possible that he'd be an even better player.

I totally agree.

I've seen him over 30 times, I would guess.

in person?

1000

999 aces and only one singles title, and a 250 (Auckland) at that. And soon to turn 26.
Reminds one just how boring tennis can sometimes get.