LONDON: John Isner's 45 aces were not enough for the 23rd-seeded American in the second round of Wimbledon. He lost to 90th-ranked Dudi Sela of Israel 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner has quite a height advantage over the 5-9 (1.75-meter) Sela, but that didn't help on this day. One key to the match was Isner's inability to win any of Sela's service games in the fifth set, going 0 for 6 on break points.
Isner has never been past the third round at Wimbledon, where he won the longest match in tennis history in 2010, 70-68 in the fifth set.
"It's all between the ears, I think," Isner said. "I had opportunities, of course. When I don't go for it, bad things happen. That was the case throughout the whole match, me not going for it. That's why I lost."
Sela arrived at the All England Club this year with a 4-8 career record at the grass-court major, including six first-round losses. The only time he had made it past the second round until now was a fourth-round showing in 2009.
"It's very nice to be in the third round," said Sela, who will play 13th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov. "I had a lot of tough draws here at Wimbledon. In the first round, second round, they were tough draws. One year I had a good draw and I lost. It feels nice."