Andy Murray has been through tougher moments in his career over the last few years but the disappointment was writ large on his face after his hopes of another big run were ended by the big serving of John Isner.
Murray’s 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4 defeat in the second round was his earliest ever Wimbledon defeat but it was his interrupted build-up to the Championships, due to the abdominal injury he suffered in Stuttgart earlier this month, which was as frustrating, if not more so, than the loss itself.
“It was frustrating, and it didn't help,” he said. “I was in a really good place physically and my game was in a good spot. Look, it didn't help.
“The serve and return are the two most important shots in the game. I was not able to serve for essentially 10 days off the back of Stuttgart. My ab was absolutely fine during the match, during the tournament, and the last couple of days in the build-up.
“It's frustrating because I was in a good place with my game. That didn't help. I mean, the positive is that physically I was fine during the matches. It was touch and go kind of on the Wednesday, Thursday before the tournament in terms of how I was going to be. But I felt good physically on the court. I just couldn't quite get the win today.”
A lot of that was down to the way Isner played. In eight previous battles with Murray, the American had come off second best every time, well beaten eight times out of eight.
They had never played on grass, though, and it was Murray’s misfortune that Isner should produce as good a performance, both on serve and in general, as he’s managed in several years.
The 37-year-old hit 82 winners, 36 of them aces, and landed 73 percent of first serves, a figure he’s bettered only once before against Murray.
On grass, his serve was even more difficult to respond to and when Murray did find a way to get into the point, Isner came up with some brilliant net-play to stay ahead.
One loose game, in the third game of the first set, gave Isner the break and though Murray had two break points to get the break back immediately, he couldn’t take them. They were the only break points he had in the match. Isner stayed ahead to take the first set and clinched the second on the tiebreak, 7-4.
Murray whipped up the crowd into a frenzy late in the second set and found a way back in, snatching the tiebreak 7-3. The momentum was with the two-time champion but Isner broke again for 3-2 and despite a near-10-minute break when they shut the roof a game later, he served out for victory.
Murray said he had not served well enough early on but said the defeat did not change his belief that he can go deep in a Grand Slam.
He admitted, though, that he is not able to look too far ahead, always conscious of his metal hip and what he’s been through.
“It depends on how I am physically,” he said. “Physically I feel good, then we'll try to keep playing. But it's extremely difficult with the problems I've had with my body in the last few years to make long-term predictions about how I'm going to be even in a few weeks' time, never mind in a year's time.
“If physically I'm in a good place, yeah, I will continue to play. But it's not easy to keep my body in optimal condition to compete at the highest level.”
Murray said he was not sure of his immediate plans but wanted to lift his ranking from its current mark of 52 to the top 32, in order to be seeded at Grand Slams again.
“I was coming into Wimbledon feeling like I could have a deep run,” he said. “If you're playing against top guys right at the beginning of the event, obviously makes it a little bit more challenging. That's kind of what my goals are between now and the US Open.”
Isner will take on Jannik Sinner in the third round, with Carlos Alcaraz a likely last-16 opponent, before a potential quarter-final against Novak Djokovic.
The six-time champion moved his game up a few gears from his first-round match as he brushed aside the Australian, Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 yesterday and again looks the man to beat.
“I think the quality of tennis was really high from my side,” he said. “Much better than the first match performance. I didn't want to give him too much time. I played with not too many unforced errors from back of the court. Whenever I needed to put the return in, I did. Al in all just a really, really satisfying performance.”
