Isner beaten by Bakker at Wimbledon
It is funny how things can change in a matter of hours. Within 24 hours, John Isner became the man to make history by playing the longest ever tennis match and packing his bags after a disastrous straight set loss at the hands of Thiemo de Bakker at Wimbledon.
The American was clearly under the after effects of an 11 hour match and looked very lethargic falling miserably with the scores of 6-0 6-3 6-2 in 74 minutes.
De Bakker though was in his elements from start to finish, and Isner was also not helped by a neck problem which had to be treated during the match.
Isner also backed out of the doubles match he had to play on Friday due to a bad toe.
Isner, after the match, said that he was simply exhausted. During the match he failed to serve even a single ace. Compared to 12 he had in the last match. Isner added that he felt drained out and did not have the legs to even complete the match. He added that it sure is disappointing to lose in the 2nd round.
While Bakker was just brutal from the start and things did not look good for Isner from the initial stages of the match, Isner said that credit must go to Bakker. The fact that he could barely complete the match does not take away any credit from Bakker’s game.
Isner was also suffering from some pretty bad blisters which were obviously from the last heroic game. The American was looking forward to having some time off, and said it will be great to sit back and regain the energy which he badly needs.
Isner was the talk of the town in the opening week of Wimbledon, after the historic match with Mahut, which lasted 11 hours and five minutes. However, the down side of that was that he just had nothing in the bank to have any chance of progressing in the tournament.
The match between Isner and Bakker was scheduled to be on Wednesday, but the marathon match between Mahut and Isner took all 3 days to complete. So this match had to be moved to Friday.
De Bakker’s next opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu, himself, had a lengthy match against Mikhail Youzhny which he won 16-14 in the final set. Though, of course, it is nothing compared to what Isner went through. Bakker will next face Paul-Henri Mathieu in the 3rd round.
Talking about the start of match between Isner and Bakker, it was quite evident that Isner was not up for another match. After missing the morning practice, he was looking slow, lagging physically and a series of loose ground strokes saw him lose his serve in both of his first 2 service games.
While at the other end, World number 49 De Bakker, was serving one ace after another, and winners were plenty.
Bakker, who almost seemed embarrassed to win, said that it sure was tough for Isner. Had he been at his full potential we may have had an altogether different game.
It all seemed to be coming to a premature conclusion, when in the 2nd set Isner’s trainer came on to treat his neck, but he recovered only to lose his serve once again, which was 4th time in the match.
Things got a little better for him in the 2nd set later. He did manage to win 3 games, but not for long. Soon Bakker wrapped up the 2nd set, while 3rd was more of a formality, and again losing the serve twice Isner just surrendered and Bakker completed the match. Both seemed to be going through the motions at that time, the match finally ended at 6-0, 6-3 and 6-2.
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