Isner loses 5-set marathon against Lopez

Lopez defeats Isner 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. In a marathon match, John Isner lost to the 18th seed Lopez in another five set encounter. Isner had recently defeated Nalbandian in another 5 set encounter but it appears as though the American's five set luck wore off. With Isner's defeat,  this marks the first time ever that an American has not made the 4th round of the Australian Open. Isner had this to say, "I knew going in today I was the last one left, and I wanted to keep on going, but just didn't happen," Isner said. "It's very ugly, to be honest, to have no one in the round of 16. We've got to try to rectify that next time the big tournaments roll around." However Isner's loss was definitely affected by his previous 5-set encounter, which left him fatigued and injured. Even Lopez could tell, Referring to Isner and his battle with Nalbandian, Lopez said, "The day after you feel tired, it's tough to recover for the next [match]." Apparently after his match with Nalbandian, his coach claims that Isner had a blister on his toe that caused him to bleed incessantly through his sock and it never recovered. "The whole match I wasn't really that sharp, and I wasn't, I don't know, I just didn't really have it out there today," said Isner. Isner will have to find a way to shorten up his matches if he wants to break the top 10, as these marathon matches are what are exhausting him early on in tournaments, leading to depleted performances later on.