Photo by AP
WIMBLEDON, England—Inevitably, the sequel of Isner vs. Mahut didn’t live up to the original; not even close.
The replay of the longest match in tennis history turned out to be a ho-hum Part II, with John Isner beating Nicolas Mahut in straight sets Tuesday in the first round at Wimbledon.
It was a far cry from the 2010 epic, in which Isner triumphed 70-68 in the fifth set of a ma
rathon that lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes and stretched over three days.
“Nothing’s going to live up to that match,” the American said after winning Tuesday’s contest, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (6). “It wasn’t going to go that long.”
On a day featuring Serena Williams’ tears of joy after her long-awaited return to Grand Slam tennis and convincing wins by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Isner and Mahut faced each other again on the grass of the All England Club where they made history last year.
But it was all straightforward and mainly one-sided this time. It finished after 2 hours, 3 minutes, with Mahut sailing a forehand long on the second match point.
Few matches are likely to inspire the type of emotion that overtook Serena Williams after her 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 first-round win on Centre Court over Aravane Rezai.
The four-time champion, returning to the main stage after missing nearly a year with serious health problems, broke into tears within seconds of ending the match with an ace.
“It definitely was so emotional for me because throughout the last 12 months, I’ve been through a lot of things that’s not normal, things you guys don’t even know about,” she said.
Federer began his chase for a record-equaling seventh Wimbledon championship by beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-2.
Just as imposing was second-seeded Djokovic, who dropped just 11 points on serve as he beat Jeremy Chardy of France, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.