Exhausted Isner Loses In Second Round

American hero John Isner put on a historical show two days ago at Wimbledon, spending 7+ hours in a day smashing a tennis ball to decide a single set that was never decided before sundown. He finished the set on Thursday -- a 70-68 win in the fifth and deciding set -- and was right back in action on Friday to face Thiemo de Bakker in round 2. Unfortunately for Isner, he was unable to keep performing in a superhuman manner. He lost in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.

Isner won the fewest games in a single match at the tournament this year, one day after finishing the match in which he won the most games in a victory. He failed to strike a single ace in the match, a severe downgrade from his record 112 aces in the match versus Nicholas Mahut. De Bakker took down Isner in just 1 hour and 14 minutes --  slightly shorter than the marathon match that took 11 hours, 5 minutes to decide.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure nobody thinks any lesser of Isner because of his second round loss. In the same way that yesterday's winner was irrelevant in the big picture, Isner's accomplishment will easily overshadow his second round loss in the long run. Can you imagine playing an 11-hour Wimbledon match over three days and then having to come back and gear yourself up for a brand new match? Isner showed visible fatigue and had to be treated several times for a neck injury. It was a lost cause for the American to try and win more matches moving forward. It's definitely not the point here. The point was Isner's historic accomplishment in winning the most remarkable tennis match in the history of the sport.