2018 was the best year of Isner’s career, as the 6ft10 American won his first and only Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open, and later reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon, his best ever Grand Slam result.

Wimbledon played a big role in his career as Isner broke the record for the longest-ever tennis match at the event, beating Nicholas Mahut after 11 hours of action.

Isner retired from tennis in 2023 after 15 years on the ATP Tour but still reckons he could compete at the highest level.

John Isner believes he ‘could be top 100’ if he came out of tennis retirement

One year after his retirement at the 2023 US Open, Isner was talking on his Nothing Major podcast about how he thought things would go if he came back to the ATP Tour.

“I think I could be top 100 in the world if I re-entered the rankings,” he said.

“I might get a wildcard to a couple of challengers and try and build from there.”

The 39-year-old did, however, concede that his health could be an issue.

“There is some stuff with my body I would have to figure out, and do some due diligence into why my foot always bothers me,” said Isner.

“I think if I figured that out I could be top 100 in the world, I would back myself.”

Isner’s co-host and former world number eight, Jack Sock, wasn’t quite as confident in his abilities.

“No, probably not [top 100],” he said.

“I think I was in the full swing of doing this a few years ago and couldn’t get into the top 100 then.

“I couldn’t do it in 2025.

“I would give myself inside the top 250.”

Top three tennis stars who came out of retirement

Whilst Isner and Sock were simply answering hypotheticals, some players have made the bold decision to come out of retirement and return to tennis action.

Bjorn Borg

The legendary Swede won 11 Grand Slam titles before shocking the tennis world by retiring at just 26 years old.

Borg came out of retirement after eight years away from tennis looking to return to the top of the men’s game.

Borg had chosen to continue using wooden rackets upon his return, despite the rest of the tour switching to graphite, and elected to use karate instructor Ron Thatcher as his coach.

His slightly outdated and perhaps unusual methods proved unsuccessful, and after failing to win a single match upon his return, retired again shortly after.

Martina Navratilova

Navratilova won an astonishing 18 Grand Slam titles during her legendary career as a professional, before retiring in 1994.

She came out of retirement six years later, and similarly to Borg, struggled for success.

However, unlike Borg, Navratilova made the switch to playing mixed doubles where she enjoyed another positive spell on tour.

The Czech-American won three more Grand Slam mixed doubles titles before her second retirement in 2006.

Caroline Wozniacki

Wozniacki reached world number one during her career and won the 2018 Australian Open title.

The Dane retired in 2020 after struggling for form and dealing with a number of injuries.

However, she returned in 2023 and immediately picked up some big wins on the WTA Tour, reaching the quarter finals at Indian Wells.

Wozniacki reached the fourth round of the US Open in 2024, again showing that she can produce some strong results on the WTA tour.

Coming back out of retirement is never going to be easy, but it would certainly be interesting to see how Isner would fare if he stepped back on court.

Related Posts