John Isner makes history again, becomes all-time leading ace leader

John Isner wrote his name into the record books at Wimbledon again on Friday as he became the all-time leading ace leader in ATP Tour history.

The American, whose 11-hour, five-minute epic match against Nicolas Mahut in 2010 is the longest tennis has ever seen, hit 24 aces in his third-round match against Italian Jannik Sinner to overtake Ivo Karlovic of Croatia at the top.

In the list of total aces since 1991, Isner took his tally to 13,748, overtaking Karlovic, who has 13,728. Roger Federer is a distant third in the all-time list, more than 2,000 behind.

Isner began Wimbledon 94 aces behind Karlovic, but hit 56 in his first-round win over Enzo Couacaud and 34 in his victory over two-time champion Andy Murray.

Speaking before Friday’s match, Isner said it was a record he would look back on with satisfaction when he is finished playing.

“It’s not going to put me in the Hall of Fame or anything like that, because that’s not me,” he said.

“But I will be the all-time leader. I’ll keep playing, keep adding to my total. I don’t think that’s a record that — I don’t know if it will get broken. I could be up there for a long time. It’s actually really cool. It’s something I’m really proud of.”

Here are the top 10 ace leaders on ATP Tour, since 1991, according to the ATP:

1. John Isner 13,748

2. Ivo Karlovic 13,728

3. Roger Federer 11,478

4. Goran Ivanisevic 10,237

5. Feliciano Lopez 10,155

6. Andy Roddick 9,074

7. Pete Sampras 8,858

8. Sam Querrey 8,858

9. Ivan Ljubicic 8,138

10. Milos Raonic 8,136