Amid feverish scenes resembling a resuscitation meeting, Andy Murray tried his best to conjure up one last famous late-night miracle on Center Court. But Father Time – and the crunching heavy metal tennis of John Isner – offered a crushing answer.
Afterwards, Murray vowed to be back at Wimbledon if his creaking 35-year-old body holds out, but he conceded it wasn’t a given. That 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-4 defeat, his earliest in 14 appearances here, only made him tougher.
However, some of this was beyond his control. Over three hours, his opponent was a gunslinger who refused to miss, knocking down an incredible 36 aces and 80 winners to secure a deserved win. “It’s no secret that I’m not a better tennis player than Andy, but maybe I was a little better today,” he generously admitted. “That was one of the greatest successes of my career.”
As Isner later admitted, his game is not particularly polished. But why reinvent the wheel when you’ve got a howitzer off a serve and a forehand ripping seven nylon strips off the ball? The American could be the tennis equivalent of a garage band playing three strings. But he still confused Murray with his Blitzkrieg bop.
“I’ve played against these players many times and found ways to make enough returns to turn the games, whether it’s against Karlovic, Isner, Raonic or guys like that,” a dejected Murray said afterwards. “But tonight he was very close to the lines at key moments.”
But as much as it will pain the Wimbledon crowds who have given him royal cheers all these years, it was Murray who offered a portrait of the artist as an older man. Still immensely talented, for sure. But a little slower in the eyes and between the lines. In a game of millimeters and microseconds, it made the difference.
“I think most players on the tour would tell you that a match like this would be won or lost based on a few points here and there,” Murray said. “I didn’t play well enough on those points.”
Earlier, bookmakers had made Murray, who had won all eight of his previous contests against Isner, a heavy favourite. But he also knew those wins were years before his body collapsed and his hip reappeared.
With the overwhelming difficulty of breaking Isner’s serve, it was important Murray got off to a quick start. Instead, he was broken in the third game. The Scot immediately had two chances to retaliate, only Isner was able to save them – first with a skillful volley and then with a 200kph first serve. Incredibly, Murray didn’t get another opportunity to interrupt the competition.
John Isner serves for the match against Andy Murray. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
After losing the first set 6-4, Murray stabilized and had half a break chance when he led 30-15 on Isner’s serve at 5-4 in the second set. But then the American hit two exquisite drop volleys and showed he had surprisingly good touch for a big man to hold serve before blasting away with the tie-break.
Murray was now in a desperate situation. To add to his troubles, Isner got 79% of first serves – a staggering percentage considering many flew past the speedgun at over 130 mph – and won 88% of his first serve points.
Murray’s best hope now was that his 37-year veteran, who had played a five-setter on Monday, could start to feel some prominence in his legs. “Come on Andy, he’s older than you!” one shouted, but Isner’s serve held as we went into another tiebreak.
This time it was Murray who got off to a fast start and took a 3-0 lead. And with the crowd pushing him to do it, he was able to capitalize. By now the fans were on their feet and banging in the air. Murray couldn’t do that, could he?
But Isner was unable to comply. A break to make it 2-2 in the fourth set put the match on the table and after a delay he was able to keep his nerve to close the stadium roof.
Murray, meanwhile, had to hope this wouldn’t be his last day at this most famous of places. “If I’m physically well, I’ll keep playing,” he said. “But with the issues I’ve had with my body over the past few years, it’s extremely difficult to make long-term predictions.”
His words felt hurt and a little dazed. However, that was only to be expected given the beatings he had just experienced.
Comments are closed.