Legends meeting at Church Road

Older tennis fans will be feeling a bit nostalgic on Wednesday. In times when numerous youngsters are moving ever closer to the top of the world, it is also good to be able to watch two veterans in an important and exciting Grand Slam match again. We are talking about Andy Murray and John Isner. According to the odds, the Scot should make it to the third round of Wimbledon. However, the US American should by no means be underestimated because of his serve.

Incidentally, we can safely call both professionals Wimbledon legends, albeit for different reasons. While Murray became the first British winner at this tournament after a 77-year drought in 2013, John Isner stood against Nicolas Mahut three years earlier in the longest tennis match of all time on the sacred green grass in London. Isner won the decisive last set 70-68!

Although the best years are certainly behind the two veterans, we can look forward to a high-class duel that will probably be decided primarily by who makes fewer errors on their own serve. Murray in particular will have a hard time breaking the best server on the tour for many years. So, even without a thorough analysis, there are many indications that there will be few service losses and therefore perhaps a tie break or two.

Andy Murray – Statistics & current form

Year after year, Wimbledon is the absolute highlight in Andy Murray’s tournament calendar. This has not changed even after his operation when he was fitted with an artificial hip. The Briton, who won the tournament at Church Road in 2013 and 2016 and has been a folk hero ever since, is still undoubtedly one of the best grass court players in the world. He was able to confirm this impressively in the preparatory tournaments.

After the Scottish-born player took it easy during the clay court season and only played three matches at all, the two-time Olympic champion returned just in time for the grass court season. At the Challenger in Surbiton, Murray reached the last 16, and a week later in Stuttgart he even made it to the final. There, after a hard fight, he lost to the Wimbledon finalist of the previous year, Matteo Berrettini, in three sets. He then cancelled his participation in Queens in order to be well prepared for the third Grand Slam of the year.

With return quality and patience to success

The 35-year-old still had some problems at the start of the main event, but after losing the first set against James Duckworth, the veteran found his feet and eventually won in four rounds. However, a completely different calibre now awaits the giant of serve Isner. In the run-up to the match between Murray and Isner, we would not predict that the Briton will again get eleven break chances.

He will have to wait patiently for his opportunities. No easy task for the emotional oldie, who still has his strengths in the return game. The serve worked quite well in the first match. 85% won points when the first came into the field is a very decent figure, which provides another argument why we are focusing on the odds of two or more tie breaks between Murray and Isner.

John Isner – statistics & current form

John Isner is also an old hand on the ATP Tour. The 2.05 metre giant is already 37 years old. However, age does not harm his outstanding serve. It is still almost impossible to break the American, as long as the first service comes into the court with a relatively high percentage.

The former top ten player has also celebrated his best result at a Grand Slam tournament on grass. In 2018, he reached the semi-finals, but last year he was eliminated in the first main round. This season, that chalice has passed him by, even though Isner had more problems than expected in his opening match against Frenchman Couacaud.

Isner – the ace monster

It was only in the fifth set that the world number 25 finally prevailed. Two tie breaks were needed in the course of the match. However, 54 aces impressively prove what kind of match we can expect on Wednesday on one of the big courts at London’s Church Road. Couacaud had only three break chances over five sets, of which he took only one. Isner also only won two games on his opponent’s serve. We expect something similar against Andy Murray, so tie breaks seem inevitable.

John Isner’s form is difficult to assess, because the man from Greensboro, North Carolina, has made himself scarce on the tour this season. He has only played 26 matches, but still has a positive record of 14 wins and twelve losses. He gave up preparing on grass, the first round match at the All England Tennis Club was his first grass court match in 2022.

Andy Murray – John Isner Direct comparison / H2H record

Isner fans had better skip this section. The two oldies have played nine direct duels on the tour so far. All nine matches went to the Scot. Now, however, they will meet for the first time ever on grass. Nevertheless, nothing will change in the starting position.

Andy Murray – John Isner Tip

A total of 72 years will be on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon on Wednesday lunchtime in London when it comes to the second round of the prestigious Grand Slam of the year in the oldie duel Murray against Isner. Betting odds of 1.42 on the Scot quickly make it clear who is favoured in this eagerly awaited match. The better form and the greater successes on grass are only two reasons for this assessment.

Furthermore, it has to be said that the two-time title holder made the better impression in the first round. The dreaded returns and the home advantage are further arguments that swing the pendulum in the direction of the two-time Olympic champion. However, the task will not be a foregone conclusion, as John Isner is still one of the best servers on the tour. In his first grass court match of the season on Monday, the American served 54 aces.

Because we expect there to be few break chances overall and eventually service losses, we can well imagine betting between Murray and Isner that there will be at least two tie breaks in the course of the match.