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John Isner was left stunned after 18 male players with ties to US colleges made it into the main draw of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
The highest-ranked player among the 18 with US collegiate ties at Wimbledon is UK's Cameron Norrie, World No. 13, who went to Texas Christian University from 2014 to 2017. Next on the list are World No. 19 Francisco Cerundolo, who attended the University of South Carolina, and World No. 35 Ben Shelton, who attended the University of Florida.
John Isner himself is one of the players, as he was part of the University of Georgia Bulldogs, putting together a win-loss record of 143–28 in singles, before turning pro in 2007.
Others on the list are Chris Eubanks (Georgia Tech), JJ Wolf (Ohio State), Marcos Giron (UCLA), Yannick Hanfmann (USC), Maxime Cressy (UCLA), Brandon Nakashima (Virginia), Dominik Koepfer (Tulane), Arthur Rinderknech (Texas A&M), Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA), Nuno Borges (Mississippi State), Ryan Peniston (Memphis), Borna Gojo (Wake Forest), Aleksandar Vukic (Illinois), and Arthur Fery (Stanford).
John Isner celebrated this incredible feat on Twitter, saying that such a strong field of players from US colleges is proof that the college tennis circuit is highly beneficial.
"18 players is an absurd number. College tennis works," Isner tweeted.
How well these player fair at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships remains to be seen. Cameron Norrie, the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist, will begin his 2023 campaign against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Francisco Cerundolo will face Nuno Borges, and Ben Shelton will face off against Taro Daniel in his maiden Wimbledon match.
John Isner faces Jaume Munar in Wimbledon first round
John Isner will begin his 14th campaign at the Wimbledon Championships against Spain's Jaume Munar, the World No. 88, on July 3. The American is also playing doubles with Jack Sock and will face the Australian duo of Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell on July 5.
Isner, currently ranked World No. 101, will enter the 2023 Wimbledon on the back of a five-match losing streak, dating back to defeat in the first round of the Mexican Open against Taylor Fritz in February. Before Mexican Open, Isner was the finalist at the 2023 Dallas Open, losing to Wu Yibing, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (12), in the final.
The 38-year-old last played at the French Open, where he was bettered by Nuno Borges 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-7(9), in the first round.
John Isner's best performance at the Wimbledon Championships came in 2018 when he reached the semifinal, his best Grand Slam showing to date. Isner, as the No. 9 seed, defeated Radu Albot (third round), Stefanos Tsitsipas (fourth round), and Milos Raonic (quarterfinal). His run was stopped by Kevin Anderson in the semifinal, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24, in a match that lasted six hours and 36 minutes.
