Isner becomes first man to win 500 tour-level tie-breaks

[February 11, 2023]  DALLAS, TX (Reuters) - American John Isner entered the ATP Tour record books on Friday by becoming the first man to win 500 tour-level tie-breaks in his 7-6(8) 7-5 victory over Emilio Gomez in the Dallas Open quarter-finals.  

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 1, 2022 John Isner of the U.S. in action during his third round match against Italy's Jannik Sinner REUTERS/Paul Childs

Isner's 500 career tie-break victories put him 34 ahead of Swiss great Roger Federer on the Open Era list, with Pete Sampras (328) third.

Andy Roddick (303) and 22-time Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic (299) and Rafa Nadal (263) are also in the top 10.

"I've won a lot of tie-breaks in my career and in the first set I won a big number of them: 500 of them," Isner said in his on-court interview in front of his home crowd. "I'm very glad I didn't have to win 501."

Isner also holds the record for the most aces on the tour, having hit more than 14,000.

(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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