This may not have been Andy Murray’s last chance to make another Wimbledon run and it certainly wasn’t his best chance compared to his glory days, but it was a chance nonetheless.
Whatever kind of chance it was, John Isner snuffed it out on Wednesday night on the All-England Club’s Centre Court.
Isner not only enjoyed a patented huge serving day but he also produced a brilliant all-court performance to take down Murray 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-4 in the second round. The 6’10” American served at 73 percent, fired 36 aces compared to just two double-faults, and saved the only two break points he faced.
“When I had my opportunities, he served extremely well and didn’t give me lots of chances,” lamented Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion. “When I did get them, I didn’t get many looks at second serves on important moments on his serve.
“I’ve played many times against those players and found ways to get enough balls back, make enough returns to turn the matches, whether that’s been against (Ivo) Karlovic, Isner, (Milos) Raonic…those sorts of guys, I’ve done well against them.”
Well!?!? Murray literally could not have been any better against Isner heading into Wednesday’s showdown. He led the head-to-head series 8-0 and got broken a grand total of one time in those eight matches. This time around, however, it was Isner who was untouchable on serve–in addition to pocketing two unexpected breaks of the Murray serve.
“I don’t have too many weapons at my disposal to try anything different,” Isner said when asked if he tried to change anything given his winless history against Murray. “I have one big weapon, right? I need that to be working. So [the strategy] is always go after my serve, hold serve as best as I can–which I did out there tonight–and see what I can do after that.
“Yeah, I was 0-8 against Andy, but we’ve had a lot of close matches. I’ve had opportunities; just haven’t been able to close the door. Tonight I guess I was able to.”
The world No. 24 seized a quick upper hand with a break at 1-1 in the opening set before fighting off those aforementioned two break points in the very next game. That sequence alone was the difference in set one. The next two sets progressed in typical Isner fashion, with zero breaks and two tiebreakers. Murray briefly prolonged his stay in SW19 by taking the second ‘breaker, but the 35-year-old Scot could not complete his comeback. Isner delivered a crucial break at 2-2 in the fourth and then survived his last tricky moment on serve by swiftly erasing a 0-30 deficit at 4-3. A love hold at 5-3 ended the contest after three hours and 23 minutes.
“The most impressive thing for me was the serving,” Murray assessed. “Then there was a few periods, I think it was in the second set, when I had a few chances; he hit a lot of very good sort of low volleys, kind of drop volleys–he can volley well. I mean, he’s a very competent volleyer, has done extremely well in doubles. But usually against guys of his height, when you get the ball down low, it’s tricky for them down there.
“There was a period in the match, at the end of the second set, where he came up with some really, really good volleys and tough shots around the net. That was a key part of the match really.”
Isner agreed.
“Yeah, I played–in my mind–incredibly well,” he commented. “Of course I served well. But I think outside of my serve I did some good things. Of course I didn’t win many of the baseline rallies with Andy, but I think I did what I needed to do to get a break in the first and the fourth set. My serve carried me home from there.”
nice one, Isner
Ricky, I agree!i said a few harsh words about Isner yesterday – but he played really well against Murray, and he said a few very appropriate words after his win. He was more than just a serve bot, and it will be interesting to see how far he will go from there. When he is on, he is very dangerous even for the top players, but so far he has never managed at the slams to get seven wins in a row…
I like Isner , but not when he’s playing Murray at Wimbledon!
Some great touches there and the huge serve of course
There’s a quote about Laver, something like: his mind made appointments his body couldn’t keep. Andy was a step slower getting back those serving bombs. So sad for him.