Croatia's Marin Cilic has beaten America's John Isner in five sets after their third-round Wimbledon tie resumed today.
With light fading and the pair locked together at 10-10 in the fifth set last night, play was suspended.
Nothing could separate the duo in an evenly-fought opening set, with both players holding their respective serves for the duration as the pair forced a tie-break with six games apiece.
There, two breaks of serve saw the Croat win 7-4 and draw first blood in the best-of-five encounter, but the second set followed an identical pattern, as both remained stubborn on their service games to force yet another tie-break. This time, Isner edged it 8-6 to level up the match.
The pair went blow for blow again as the prospect of a third successive tie-break loomed, but something finally gave when Cilic broke Isner's serve - the first break of the match in regulation - to move 5-4 ahead, before closing out the set.
Normal service in regards to their serve resumed as neither man allowed their opponent an inch, but Cilic's resistance faltered in the tie-break as Isner won 7-4 to bring the match to two sets apiece.
Cilic, a former quarter-finalist at SW19, appeared to take a big step toward victory by moving 3-0 up in the decider, but Isner pulled him back to three apiece.
Both swiftly found themselves deadlocked at 10-10, with there being no tie-break in the deciding set at Wimbledon, before the officials decided to suspend play until Saturday due to fading light.
Cilic wasted little time, however, on the resumption of the tie, wrapping up the victory 7-6(4) 6-7(6) 6-4 6-7(4) 12-10.
Shane Callaghan
