Amid fevered scenes akin to a revivalist meeting, Andy Murray tried his damnedest to conjure up one last famous late night Centre Court miracle. But father time – and the crunching heavy metal tennis of John Isner – offered a crushing riposte.
Afterwards Murray pledged to be back at Wimbledon if his creaking 35-year-old body holds up, but he conceded that was not a given. It only made this 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4 defeat, his earliest ever in 14 appearances here, sting even harder.
