In a fitting finale, the towering American’s singles career came to an end in a fifth-set tiebreak on the US Open’s Grandstand court, where the 38-year-old, fighting to the last ball before fighting back tears, was beaten by compatriot Michael Mmoh after leading by two sets to love.

Just for good measure, Isner later returned to lose another final-set super tiebreak, this time alongside Jack Sock, who is following his long-time doubles partner into retirement. 

One of the finest servers in the sport’s history – “the best of all time” according to Andy Murray – Isner rarely relinquished a set without first exploring the opportunities offered by a tiebreak. That tends to happen when you are a 6ft 10in ace machine capable of throwing down deliveries at up to 157mph, as Isner did to set an official ATP record during a Davis Cup match against Australia in 2016. 

Yet for all the ferocity with which he fired a record 14,471 over the course of his 17-year career, Isner has always remained the gentlest of giants. Emotion overwhelmed him after his loss to Mmoh, the veteran covering his face with a towel as the enormity of the moment hit home, and he struggled to speak at times as he addressed the crowd. There were more tears later in the press room, where Isner, who held a match point, attempted to make sense of the day and reflect on his legacy to the sport.

“It’s a range of emotions,” said Isner, who broke his wrist at Flushing Meadows las year and has struggled physically since. “There is, of course, a lot of disappointment with the result of my singles match today, but at the same time a lot of gratitude, as well, just to have one last time playing in an atmosphere like that.

“I like to think I’m a good competitor. I might not win every match, that’s for sure. I might lose a lot of close matches. I might get tight and choke a little bit on the court. That happens. 

“But also, I care. I love this sport, for sure. I want to be remembered as someone who competed pretty hard on the court. I think I did that.  

“Off the court, I think it’s most important within the locker room to have the respect of my colleagues. I think I have that, judging from how many people have spoken to me. Tennis is a… it’s been a huge part of my life. It’s tough to say good-bye. It’s not easy. But eventually this day would come. It’s hard to prepare for the emotions of it.”

Near unbreakable at his best – and often even when far from his best – the former world No 8 was a man made for tiebreaks and attrition. Few will forget his extraordinary victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, which spanned three days and finally clocked in at 11 hours and five minutes, the longest match in tennis history. Barely less remarkable was his agonising defeat to Kevin Anderson at the All England Club in 2018, which ended 26-24 in the final set after six hours and 36 minutes, a record for a Wimbledon semi-final (and the fourth longest match of all-time). A top-20 player for a decade between 2010 and 2019, Isner was also a mainstay of American tennis at a time when it had little to shout about.

Yet it was not just a day for tears and statistics. Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed and defending champion, later won a match full of smiles and flashy shot-making against South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, the pair frequently delighting in their mutual dexterity. After an all too brief workout in the opening round, where Germany’s Dominic Koepfer retired midway through the second set after suffering an early ankle injury, Alcaraz advanced in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), although not before suffering a sharp third-set dip. 

“Sometimes it’s tough to enjoy on court, but I try to most of the time enjoy myself on court, having a smile during the match, making jokes with my team,” said Alcaraz. “It makes me smile and show my best level. 

“I don’t mind if I lose or win, if I’m losing points I [still] high-five with the opponent. I think we did great points. We made entertainment; we’re looking, in every match, to make people enjoy watching tennis.” 

There were some humorous asides, too. Daria Kastakina, who overcame Sofia Kenin 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round for the first time, joked about her poor record in New York when asked about her expectations for the tournament.

“I used to have big expectations here,” said Kastakina, the 13th seed. “But then I checked my record and I realised maybe, ‘Dasha, you have to slow down.’”

Kasatkina, who will play Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen for a place in the last 16, also reflected on the difficulty of getting away from tennis during the US Open, where players adorn billboards and the sport dominates the TV schedule. Alcohol, she quipped might be the only solution. “Well, if we play each other, I’ll bring her the bottle myself,” smiled Ons Jabeur, a 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-3 winner over Linda Noskova. “I’ll make sure she’s hydrated.”

There was nothing light-hearted about Matteo Berrettini’s meeting with Arthur Rinderknech, however, the former Wimbledon finalist leaving the court in a wheelchair after turning an ankle while trailing 6-4, 5-3. It continued an appalling run of injury misfortune for the Italian, who collapsed behind the baseline before emitting a howl of anguish. Berrettini underwent surgery on his right hand last year, and has struggled with a persistent abdominal injury this season.

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For Serena Williams on Tuesday night, read Andy Murray on Wednesday night. 

The paths of these two great champions have been curiously entwined at Wimbledon over the years. Six years ago, both won the last of their major singles titles at the All England Club, while in 2019 they played the mixed doubles together, illuminating the tournament with the “Murrena” partnership that will be rekindled this year – in spirit, if maybe not in name – by their older siblings Jamie and Venus. 

This time out, things have not gone quite so well. 

Serena was defeated in the opening round by Harmony Tan, a Frenchwoman ranked 115th. Murray’s challenge was ended a round later by John Isner, the 20th-seeded American who reached the semi-finals four years ago, in four tight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 6-4. 

In the past, both might have found solutions.

For all Tan’s variety and finesse, there was a time when Williams would simply have hammered her way to victory, banging down aces and exposing the relative weakness of her opponent’s second serve. Murray, meanwhile, had emerged from each of his eight previous meetings with Isner unscathed, his ability to stay solid on serve while making the excellence of his return game tell at key junctures providing an insoluble winning formula.

Times change, though, and here Murray’s tried and trusted approach began to unravel as early as the third game, where Isner’s net-rushing tactics earned him a break as he rushed Murray into error. From there, the Scot had a 6ft 10in mountain to climb. 

It was Murray’s misfortune to run into the American on a day when his service, all but impregnable at the best of times, touched perfection. The two break points Murray fashioned in the next game were rapidly snuffed out, and he would never create another. It was a serving performance for the ages, Isner slamming down 36 aces and winning more than eight in 10 points played behind a first serve that found the court 74% of the time. 

Murray was nonetheless crestfallen afterwards. His disappointment at his own shortcomings on serve – a shot he said he was frustrated not to be able to practise for 10 days following the abdominal injury he suffered in Stuttgart – was eclipsed only by his dismay at not being able to discern Isner’s patterns with the clarity of old.

“I played many times against those players and found ways to get enough balls back and make enough returns to turn the matches, whether that’s been against [Ivo] Karlovic or Isner, [Milos] Raonic, those sorts of guys,” said Murray. 

“I’ve done well against them. It’s just [about] trying to read the serve a little bit better or try and think a little bit about the patterns that they’ve been serving, whether you can maybe a guess a little bit. But tonight he served well, and he served very close to the lines in important moments. When he does that, it doesn’t always matter what you’re trying to do. Not easy.”

Yet it wasn’t only the brilliance of Isner with ball in hand that carried him through. As Murray battled to force an elusive break, the American showed some exquisite touches around the net, feathering away drop volleys, finding short angles and repeatedly stooping to shoelace level to pull off some outrageous half-volleys. At 37, and with Monday’s marathon five-set win over the Frenchman Enzo Couacaud still in his legs, it was arguably the finest victory of his career at a major, as he acknowledged in a humble and magnanimous on-court interview.

“It’s no secret that I am most definitely not a better tennis player than Andy,” said Isner. “I might just have been a little bit better than him today. It was an incredible honour to play him on this court and in front of this crowd. At the age I’m at now, I need to relish these moments.”

Despite his run to the semi-finals four years ago, Isner is best remembered at Wimbledon for the 11-hour, three-day marathon he won 70-68 in the fifth set against Nicolas Mahut 12 years ago. Beating the champion of 2013 and 2016 felt even better, he said.

“A lot of people ask me about that match in 2010, ask me about the great memories that I have from that match,” said Isner. “But it’s more nightmares, being on the court for 11 hours. Really, I think this could be at the very top for me.” 

Yet one man’s zenith is another man’s nadir, and Murray was left to reflect ruefully that he simply hadn’t been good enough on the big points. Having played a near flawless tiebreak to clinch the third set, he dropped serve early in the fourth set, missing the kind of short ball he would normally put away in his sleep before netting a forehand. There would be no way back. 

The previous evening, Williams had been asked if she had made her last appearance at Wimbledon and replied that it was a question she couldn’t answer. Murray, too, was reluctant to give assurances, pointing out that playing with a metal hip makes prognostication a dangerous game.

“It depends on how I am physically,” said Murray. “[If] physically I feel good, then we’ll try to keep playing. But it’s extremely difficult with the problems I’ve had with my body in the last few years to make long-term predictions about how I’m going to be even in a few weeks’ time, never mind in a year’s time.

“If physically I’m in a good place, yeah, I will continue to play. But it’s not easy to keep my body in optimal condition to compete at the highest level.”

Then he went on to talk about the US Open, and how he hoped to improve his current ranking of 52nd sufficiently to earn a seeding – if not before Flushing Meadows, then at least in time for next year’s Australian Open. Williams, too, talked of playing in New York. Both have won there before.

Time and fate may have weakened them, but the will to strive remains undiminished.

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Perhaps the more pertinent question was why Opelka, who beat Tsitsipas 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to reach his maiden Masters 1000 final, ventured the opinion in the first place. Maybe he was trying to heap further pressure on an opponent he knew would be fancied to win. Maybe he was trying to lull Tsitsipas into a false sense of security with an exaggerated show of deference. Or perhaps the answer really was contained in the single line – a 1? – that Opelka scrawled on a TV camera afterwards.

Whatever the answer, this was a richly deserved victory for the 23-year-old, who not only held serve throughout but also showcased the less obvious qualities – sharp movement, power and resilience from the baseline, an eye for a volley – that have underpinned his success this year. This was Opelka’s first win over a top-five opponent, and his ranking will now rise from his current position of No 32, ensuring he achieves his goal of being seeded at the US Open. No one will want to see his name in their quarter of the draw at Flushing Meadows.

Opelka, who had talked up Tsitsipas as having the best forehand in the game ahead of the match, hit almost twice as many winners off that wing as the Greek – 21 to 11 – as he racked up a total of 46 unreturnable shots, 27 of which were groundstrokes. As implied by his self-deprecating decision to sign a TV camera “servebot” after his quarter-final win over Roberto Bautista Agut, the 6ft 11in powerhouse is more than just a big serve.

“I think it was just an accumulation of pressure put on him,” said Opelka of his decisive breakthrough in the final set. “I think he felt that, you know, I was serving well, was winning points in a lot of different ways on my serve. Even when he hit some good returns, I would crush some forehands, or I came up with some good volleys.

“I think I was winning so many points, with so many different ways and different shots, that the pressure just kind of stayed on him. That game I broke, I didn’t do anything special necessarily. I put in some good returns, but I think I got a double fault, I got the first ball, that shank backhand he hadn’t missed all match … maybe it was just a fluke game, but I’d like to think that it was pressure I put on him with holding so easily the whole match.”

Opportunities against the serve were few and far between throughout. With Tsitsipas barely able to put a return in court initially, the first opportunity to make inroads against the serve fell Opelka’s way. In the third game, a scorching backhand winner brought up two break points for the American. But Opelka hooked a forehand fractionally wide on the first, and on the second Tsitsipas snuffed out the danger with a kick serve that threatened to drag his opponent into the front-row seating. 

There would not be another break point until the fourth game of the second set. By that time, Tsitsipas had long since retreated fully five metres behind the baseline to return. It was a strategy that reaped dividends in the first-set tiebreak, where the fine margins by which the match would be decided became crystal clear. At 1-1, Opelka swatted a high forehand volley long to concede a mini-break, and in the blink of an eye he was staring at a 4-1 deficit. It was not an advantage that Tsitsipas was about to relinquish, and he concluded the breaker in clinical fashion, sealing the set with an ace. 

“He definitely improved his returning,” said Opelka. “You can just tell how his mind works so efficiently. He came out not really putting a return in play, and also he wasn’t hitting them that clean on the racket. Come five all in the first set, a lot of balls start coming back and then that stayed. He had to adjust. You can see. You know he’s a thinker and you know he’s sharp, he’s got a high tennis IQ. So it was expected. But that’s what separates him, that’s why he’s elite; it separates him from the rest of the pack.”

When Tsitsipas saved a break point early in the second set with a forehand that brushed the net tape, only moments after receiving a warning for coaching, it began to look as though it might be his day. But a disastrously ill-timed double fault handed Opelka a 6-4 lead in the second-set tiebreak, and Tsitsipas promptly framed a backhand, flinging his racket to the ground in fury.

Chances were once again at a premium in the decider, where Tsitsipas saw his only break point of the match saved by an Opelka volley before faltering in the next game to fall behind irrevocably.

“When you get no rhythm, it’s kind of difficult,” said Tsitsipas. “It kind of ruins your game very silently, very slow. The main factor there is just to forget all that, and just play. That’s how most of these guys win. It’s not that I was scared or afraid of [doing that]. It’s just I was missing shots in the rallies. I was missing experience from the baseline rallies that could have [given me] better understanding of how to play and where to play. I had very few of those opportunities, and it kind of cost me at the end.”

Opelka will face Daniil Medvedev, the top seed, in Sunday’s final. The Russian played near-flawless tennis to defeat a below-par John Isner 6-2, 6-2 in just 54 minutes.

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