Marin Cilic of Croatia celebrates defeating John Isner of the United States in their singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday July 4, 2015.
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Five years ago, the 6-foot-10 American locked up with Nicolas Mahut and made tennis history, winning an 11-hour, 5-minute match that required three days to finish.
But Croatian Cilic’s 2012 victory over Sam Querrey, at five hours 31 minutes, was akin to a 100 meters sprint when compared to American Isner’s feat of endurance in 2010.
It was a tame end to a contest that had featured 437 points, 159 winners and 72 aces. They only played for two games and 15 minutes on Saturday, after going 4 hours, 16 minutes on Friday, when play was halted because of darkness. Madison Bumgarner (8-4, 2.99) has allowed seven runs in his last four outings for the Giants, striking out 38 in 31 innings.
After Cilic hit a down-the-line forehand passing victor for yet another match point, Isner double-faulted again.
The big-serving duo have been involved in the two longest matches ever played at Wimbledon so it was no surprise that their third round encounter rumbled on into a second day after being called off for bad light on Friday.
Cilic, a ex- quarter-finalist at SW19, appeared to take a big step toward victory by moving 3-0 up in the decider, but Isner pulled him back to three apiece as both players reminded the intrigued fans of the nip-tuck nature of this battle.
“For me, the rule is fine as long as you’re not playing John!” quipped Cilic. From the first game of the match, it was evident that this would be the case; Isner was able to close out the open game in a little more than fifty seconds with three aces.
The Serb wrapped up a 6-4 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 win to add Brown’s name to a group of players who beat Nadal when ranked 100 or below and then exited the tournament at the very next stage.
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On Monday, Cilic will face another American: 105th-ranked wild-card entry Denis Kudla, who’s from Virginia and is in the fourth round at a major for the first time.
