2023-08-31 23:36:25
American giant John Isner (2.08m) ended his career on Thursday following a loss in the second round of the US Open tennis tournament to his compatriot Michael Mmoh (n°89), 3 -6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-6 (10/7). The 38-year-old Greensboro (North Carolina) native had already announced that the US Open would be the last tournament of his long career (17th year on the main circuit).
True to his reputation, Isner (No. 157) finished with a last marathon, 3h57 long, and a last decisive game, he who played a lot. Ex-8th in the world and double quarter-finalist at Flushing Meadows, the American is particularly known for having won against the French Nicolas Mahut in 2010 on the grass of Wimbledon, the longest match in the history of tennis. The two men had taken eleven hours and five minutes to decide… 70-68 in the fifth and final set.
“It’s hard,” reacted Isner, tears in his eyes, after his defeat, to a standing ovation from the spectators. “It’s to be able to play in front of audiences like this that I have worked as hard as I could all my life. It is truly exceptional. Among the last representatives of a generation of large servers (Karlovic, Anderson, Querrey), Isner is, by far, the record holder for the number of aces on the ATP circuit (14,411 or nearly 19 per match in average). In the third round, Mmoh will face Britain’s Jack Draper (#123), who knocked out Polish seed Hubert Hurkacz (#17) in the second round.
Among the women, the French Clara Burel, 62nd in the world, qualified for the third round on Thursday by taking out a seed, the Czech Karolina Pliskova (n ° 25), 6-4, 6-2. The 22-year-old Rennaise is guaranteed to do at least as well as in the 2022 edition, where she had already passed two laps at Flushing Meadows.
From the start of the match, Burel played committed tennis, but also effective (only 14 unforced errors, double for his opponent), comfortable in long exchanges against an uninspired Pliskova. The Frenchwoman also shone in return, especially on the second ball, when her opponent lacked sharpness on the raise.
In the third round, Burel will be opposed to the second player in the world, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who easily beat the Briton Jodie Burrage (n°96) on Thursday.
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