John Isner’s heavy metal game drums Andy Murray out of Wimbledon

Amid fevered scenes akin to a revivalist meeting, Andy Murray tried his damndest to conjure up one last famous late-night miracle on Centre Court. But father time – and the crunching heavy metal tennis of John Isner – offered a brutal riposte.

The giant American crashed down an extraordinary 36 aces and 80 winners as he snuffed out Murray’s dogged challenge – and the urgings of the Wimbledon crowd – to secure a 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 victory. In his 37 years, Isner has surely never played better tennis. He was a gunslinger who refused to miss.

“It’s no secret that I am not a better tennis player than Andy Murray, but I may have been a little bit better today,” Isner said to loud applause. “This was one of the biggest wins of my career.”

The American’s critics would say there is nothing particularly sophisticated about his game. But why reinvent the wheel when you possess a howitzer of a serve? And when it is backed up by a forehand that tears seven strips of nylon off the ball – and a deft touch at the net? Isner might be the tennis equivalent of a garage band who has mastered three chords. But he still confounded Murray with his Blitzkrieg Bop.

But, as much it will pain the Wimbledon crowd that cheered him royally to the end, this was Murray offering a portrait of the artist as an older man. Still supremely talented, for sure. But a little slower and less bold. In a game of millimetres and microseconds, it made all the difference. His 35-year-old body was slightly late to those thundering serves, delivered on high by Isner’s 6ft 10in frame, and the numerous drop volleys that always seemed just out of reach.

The match was not supposed to go like this. Beforehand, the bookies had made Murray, who had won all eight of his