What goes against the impact monster?

Although Jannik Sinner had to give up two rounds in the first two rounds against Stan Wawrinka and Mikael Ymer, the 20-year-old's first grass-court victories were never in danger. In the third round the level of difficulty increases immensely. The opponent at the All England Club is none other than John Isner, who enjoys almost legendary status on the London courts.

Not because he won the most prestigious title, but because of a match that went down in the history books: In 2010, the American Isner and the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut dueled for eleven hours and five minutes in round 1. The final score? 6:4, 3:6, 6:7 (7:9), 7:6 (7:3) and 70:68 for Isner. The game lasted a full three days, which was, among other things, the reason why the Grand Slams introduced a tiebreak when the score was 6:6 in the deciding set. In total, both players hit over 100 aces each. This is not the only reason why Isner became famous at Wimbledon. In 2018 he made it to the semi-finals, where he was defeated by Kevin Anderson.

Played the longest match in history: John Isner and Nicolas Mahut © AFP / GLYN KIRK

On Friday, Isner can write the next chapter of his Wimbledon story. The man from North Carolina has currently hit 13 aces in his long career - only five fewer than the all-time leader Ivo Karlovic from Croatia. There is therefore a good chance that he will overtake Karlovic, who has since retired, in terms of aces in the match against Sinner.

Sinner is of course aware of the great strength of “Long John”, but has already proven that he can neutralize it: In last year’s Davis Cup, the South Tyrolean Isner swept off the field with 6:2 and 6:0. A few months earlier, the US boy had won the first duel in Cincinnati 5:7, 7:6 and 6:4. An interesting match can be expected, which will take place at around 17 p.m. on Court 2.

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What goes against the impact monster?

The combination of John Isner and the grass courts at Wimbledon usually doesn't bode well for opponents. Jannik Sinner wants to prove on Friday that this is not the case.

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