Story highlights
Isner beats Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal continue to win in straight sets
Serena Williams moves into women's quarterfinals
No women's top-10 seeds remain
There was a massive double shock at Wimbledon, as Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were upset by a qualifier and player who had lost her last five matches on grass, respectively.
On Wimbledon’s unique ‘Manic Monday’ – all 32 players remaining in singles are on the schedule – Isner beat Greece’s budding star Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-4) to make the last eight in still steamy southwest London.
“I’m very happy to be in the quarters,” Isner told reporters. “Feeling good. Definitely confident that I can keep going.
“Certainly this tournament since that long match has sort of been a house of horrors for me. I’ve lost a lot of close ones since that match in 2010, a lot of very, very close ones, a lot of deep five-set matches, third round especially.”
The ninth seed also moved a step closer to a potential semifinal with Roger Federer – whose comfortable win over Adrian Mannarino meant the Swiss hasn’t lost at SW19 since the 2016 semifinals – while Rafael Nadal ended his six-year Wimbledon quarterfinal drought.
Isner’s pal Serena Williams leads the list of women’s contenders at this stage. And not for the first time.
Williams wins over fellow mom
The 23-time grand slam champion triumphed over fellow mom Evgeniya Rodina 6-2 6-2 as the last top-10 women’s seed, Karolina Pliskova, departed at the hands of Kiki Bertens 6-3 7-6 (7-1).
READ: Sharapova, Kvitova stunned at Wimbledon
If Isner does reach the semifinals Friday, he would “love” for US President Donald Trump to watch him. Trump is due to visit the UK towards the end of this week.
“I’d love to have Trump come watch me,” he said. “That would be awesome. Maybe I’ll tweet at him if I win on Wednesday. I know a lot of people won’t like that, but I don’t care.”
Williams wasn’t as enthusiastic when asked for her thoughts on Trump watching her in Saturday’s women’s final if she gets that far. “But I feel like he has the right to do whatever he wants to do. If he wants to come to a Wimbledon final, he has that right,” she said.
“I hope I’ll be there. I don’t know. I still have a lot of matches to win. For me, I can’t even think that far. I’m just thinking one at a time.”
If you had a ticket for Centre Court on Monday, you probably will want to keep it as a memento. Tennis icons Federer, Williams and Nadal have combined for 60 singles majors.
All three haven’t dropped a set this fortnight, suggesting they won’t be exiting anytime soon.
Isner, meanwhile, is seeking a first major.
Eight years ago, he outlasted Mahut 70-68 in a fifth set in an encounter that took three days to complete. It was, by far, the longest match in tennis history.
READ: Mahut no longer defined by epic match
A year later in 2011 Isner reached his first grand slam quarterfinal in New York but more success at majors didn’t follow. Indeed it was the opposite.
Grand slam heartbreak
The 33-year-old has suffered his share of heartbreak, entering this Wimbledon with a 4-9 record in fifth sets since the start of 2012.
Almost half of those losses went past 12 games in the fifth, including at all three grand slams where there are no final-set tiebreaks: A 19-17 reverse to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon in 2016, 18-16 loss to Paul Henri Mathieu at the French Open in 2012 and 9-7 loss to Mischa Zverev at the Australian Open last year.
Twelve months ago at Wimbledon, the 6-foot-11 Isner was felled by the diminutive Dudi Sela in, yes, five sets.
Isner ended his fifth set hoodoo last week at Wimbledon and in dramatic fashion, saving two match points to defeat Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans while crunching 64 aces.
“When you have left this tournament the last nine, 10 years pretty disappointed with my result, gone home sort of hanging my head a little bit,” said Isner. “But not the case this year.
“I’ve always told myself, ‘Just keep doing what you do,’ keep giving myself more chances. I want to keep coming to this event feeling good, playing well. That was the case