John Isner is the new top-ranked player in the United States
It will serve as a footnote, at best, in sports pages and Internet sites on Monday, but a bit of history was made early in the day when John Isner surpassed Mardy Fish to become the No. 1 player in American men's tennis. In doing so, the 26-year-old becomes only the 12th player in 40 seasons to ascend to the top spot.
Most of the list include all-time legends (Connors, McEnroe, Agassi, Sampras) or one-time Grand Slam champions (Chang, Roddick). It's a sad reflection on the state of American tennis that the three most recent new No. 1s (Blake, Fish and Isner) are all without a major. The only other player to have reached that spot without the benefit of a major was Brad Gilbert, who snuck ahead of McEnroe and Agassi at the beginning of 1990.
The full list (in order of the first time they reached No. 1)
1. Sam Smith
2. Jimmy Connors
3. John McEnroe
4. Andre Agassi
5. Michael Chang
6. Brad Gilbert
7. Jim Courier
8. Pete Sampras
9. Andy Roddick
10. James Blake
11. Mardy Fish
12. John Isner
Isner reached No. 1 after making the finals of the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston. He lost the final to Juan Monaco.
