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6/22/11 4:51 AM | Ricky Dimon
John Isner wins his rematch against Nicolas Mahut in straight sets on Tuesday at Wimbledon. Isner races into a second-round clash with Nicolas Almagro.
There was no Wimbledon marathon this time around for John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.
One year after playing the longest match in tennis history, Isner defeated Mahut 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(6) in first-round action at the All-England Club on Tuesday evening. The 6'9'' American struck a mere eight aces but he dropped serve only once and needed just two hours and three minutes to advance.
Last year's epic opening-round struggle went in Isner's favor 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68. It lasted 11 hours and five minutes and even the fifth set alone went longer than the previous longest match in the history of the sport.
Isner made sure the rematch would produce far less drama, although it was not without difficulty despite going to just three sets. Interestingly, Mahut got a look at a rare break opportunity in his very first service game of the match. Isner erased it with an ace at 0-1, 30-40 and both men held the rest of the way in set one.
The world No. 47 sprinted to a commanding 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Mahut promptly ran off three straight points of his own to stay alive. Isner, with a second chance on his serve at 6-4, finally clinched the set when a Mahut error ended a brief rally.
Isner appeared to be running away with a win when he used a pair of breaks to ease through the second frame of play, but Mahut regrouped in the third. The 94th-ranked Frenchman, who seemed to struggle at times with his current case of knee tendinitis, broke early but gave it back midway through the set.
Mahut made the second tiebreaker of the day far more competitive, even saving a match point on Isner's serve at 6-5. Two points later, however, a Mahut forehand sailed well long and ended the proceedings.
Mahut wrapped up his effort with 31 winners and 16 unforced errors while firing eight aces against six double-faults. Isner turned in a stellar performance and finished with 41 winners to only 10 errors. Next up for Isner is Nicolas Almagro, a four-set winner over Jarkko Nieminen.
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unofficial!
RickyDimon , 6/22/11 11:23 PM
Isner is ranked much higher than Mahut.
holdserve , 6/23/11 1:26 AM
eh, not as much as the difference between them last year!
RickyDimon , 6/23/11 1:55 AM
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They played their rematch this year in Australia at the Hopman Cup Isner won that also
sals3 , 6/22/11 6:02 AM