Wimbledon 2022: How Andy Murray makes tennis giants feel small while John Isner clashes

Before that, Connors was his fellow American’s bogey player. It is unlikely that John Isner’s losing record against Andy Murray will ever be to such an extent, but his record is eight, losing eight, which enters tonight in their second-round match at Wimbledon.

But 6ft 10in Isner is not alone among the match’s tall men when it comes to the fight against the British. When Ivo Karlovic, an inch taller, retired from professional tennis last year, he did so after losing all seven of his matches against the Scot.

Another more recent retiree, Kevin Anderson (6 feet 8 inches), fared marginally better, with a losing margin of 6-2, while the tallest man on tour, Reilly Opelka (6 feet 11 inches) played once against Murray has – earlier this year – and lost.

However, Murray, a great thinker of the game, was advised to explain why he has the ability to make the giants of the game feel small on the track. He simply said: “For whatever reason, I have always played well against them. The matches were good for me. “

For Opelka and his fellow big men, it also led to a bit of a headache.

Speaking at Wimbledon’s Aorangi Park training ground, Opelka said: “I think if you analyzed his head-to-head form against most of the players outside the very top players, I think you would find he has a pretty good record. , but there’s clearly something there against the big guys.

“The thing is, he is a good backer of the ball. He always seems to find a way to get the ball back, and that reduces the benefit of the service. ”

Michael Stich, a relative minnow compared to Opelka and Kie, was one of the taller players in tennis’ top order, at 6ft 4in, when he won Wimbledon in 1991.

The German explained the reason behind Murray’s success and said: “He is obviously a good comeback, and these guys are not so consistent from the baseline.

“The tall guys can be good on the baseline, but that’s not the main part of their game, so once he gets the ball back in play, it’s something Andy can use to his advantage due to his stability at the back of the field. That’s one of the main reasons why he has a good record against those guys.

“The other aspect is frustration. The great server of our time was Goran Ivanisevic and I felt the more returns you could get back, the more frustrating because they are used to getting a lot of free points on their service.

“And against the really big guys, the quality of the return is sometimes not so important, it’s often just a matter of getting it over the net to get into the rally. The more rallies you participate in, the more options you have, the more mistakes you can enforce. And these guys are not always the smoothest shooters in rallies. ”

One consequence of such an action, Stich argues, is that the tall players are then caught in the trap of playing according to Murray’s game plan.

“They are not prepared to break Andy’s rhythm,” he said. “That’s what you have to do against a guy like Andy, don’t play his game. [It’s the] same with Nadal. You need to change your game. It’s clear that you can only change your game to a certain point while not losing your power. “

Stich’s enemy was Andre Agassi, another great comeback, and he never beat him in six encounters. That losing record got in his head, a thought he found hard to shake off, something Isner will no doubt have at Center Court.

“It’s just there are a few players where your game apparently doesn’t fit,” he said.

Opelka, on the other hand, claims he has no problem with a losing streak, whether it is against Murray or any other player. “If I find that I have a bad record against a player, I do not care,” he said. “It almost allows me to throw even more at it. So, I do not know if he is in other players’ heads. “

Isner will be able to provide that great answer today.