"There's, 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. It was very cool. As I said on the court, that's why I work so hard," Isner said. "Hard to explain how bad my body feels — I'm not (about) talking right now, because it does, but just in general, lately. So everything I do to get it ready to play, there's a lot that goes into it. I wanted one more U.S. Open and was able to get that."
When Isner put a volley into the net off a dipping passing shot by Mmoh, the two opponents hugged.
Then Isner — who was one point from winning at 5-4 in the fifth set but netted a backhand return — sat on his sideline chair and covered his face with a white towel.
"In the moment, in that tiebreaker, you're not really thinking about the fact that it's his last match. Maybe before you start the match you are, but not in that tiebreaker and not when you're down match point," said Mmoh, a 25-year-old who only once before had won a match after dropping the initial two sets.
"When I won the match, I had a lot of positive emotion and I was really, really happy. But then, one second later, I felt bad. I genuinely did," said Mmoh, who will play 21-year-old Jack Draper of Britain next. "When I saw him get emotional in that interview, I genuinely felt for him. So it was tricky. It was almost like bittersweet. Obviously, at the end of the day, we're all competitors and we come here for one reason, and so I'm happy to get the ‘W.'"