TennisRecordchasing Isner Bids to Serve up Murray Upset

LONDON on June 28 (Reuters) - American John Isner may seal his legacy as the best player in the game on Wednesday, with the all-time aces record in his sights, but standing in his way at Wimbledon is a man with a reputation for playing big servers, Andy Murray.

Isner has played more than 13,000 aces during his 15-year career. He is now 40 short of Ivo Karlovic's record of 13,728 on the ATP Tour.

Centre Court would be the ideal venue But the 37-year-old American has lost all eight of his matches against Murray who is a two-time Wimbledon champion. Murray and Murray have never played on grass, however.

"Andy is a different animal. He's much more difficult to beat because his anticipation is just amazing," said Isner, who racked up 54 aces during his first-round victory of five sets.

"He's so at ease on grass, much more comfortable than I am. He has more wins in this tournament that I do. Gaming Gaming

"Grass may be his best surface, it's likely not my best surface. However, it does a lot of good on my serve."

Murray isn't performing at his best since hip surgery. The 35-year-old Murray who last defeated Isner in 2016 is concerned about losing his rhythm in the face of Isner who has one of the fastest serves in history.

"You're not necessarily always in control of (the matches). Murray stated that you can play anywhere from four to five return games in the event that you don't have opportunities.

"But for whatever reason I've always performed well against them (big servers). I've enjoyed the match-ups."

Centre Court will welcome back day one winners with Briton Emma Raducanu facing Caroline Garcia of France . Novak Djokovic facing Thanasi Kokkinakis from Australia. Game Servers

"Caroline is a formidable opponent. I played her earlier in the year in Indian Wells and it was an extremely difficult match. Raducanu said, "She plays very fast tennis, so I'm prepared to play her."

Kokkinakis who is ranked 79th globally acknowledged that he was not the favorite against Djokovic.

"It's going to be great fun out there , and I'm planning to swing my arms and try my best," he said.

"He's a brick wall, so you've must beat him. He's never going to take it easy on himself.