The longest match in tennis historical past lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, with the gamers competing over three days. Let’s look again at that showdown and study different marathon matches.
2010 Wimbledon: John Isner def. Nicolas Mahut (11 hours, 5 minutes)
At Wimbledon in 2010, the first-round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. The 2 battled over the course of three days. Their match featured 5 units, together with a 138-point fifth set. (Wimbledon didn’t use a tiebreak within the fifth set on the time.)
On the primary day, the match needed to be halted on the finish of the fourth set as a result of it was too darkish to proceed. On the second day, the scoreboard stopped working and ultimately shut off, because it was solely programmed to go to 47-47 (however it might be fastened by the third day). The match was halted on Day 2 as soon as the solar went down.
On Day 3, Isner gained the deciding ultimate set, 70-68. There have been 980 whole factors, together with 711 factors within the fifth set. The gamers have been exhausted, because it was 4½ hours longer than the earlier document for longest match. Isner’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 victory allowed him to advance to face Thiemo de Bakker, however Isner would lose that match in simply 74 minutes (the shortest males’s match in Wimbledon historical past at the moment).
2018 Wimbledon: Kevin Anderson def. John Isner (6 hours, 36 minutes)
John Isner additionally competed within the second-longest Grand Slam match of all time. This time, Isner confronted Kevin Anderson within the 2018 semifinal at Wimbledon. This match featured 99 video games and three tiebreakers over 5 units. The fifth set lasted almost three hours, changing into the longest Centre Courtroom match in historical past.
Anderson defeated Isner 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24 after 6 hours and 36 minutes. Within the ultimate, Anderson finally misplaced to Novak Djokovic. A number of months after this match, the All England membership introduced a rule change: Tiebreaks can be performed if the ultimate set rating reached 12-all. In 2022, the foundations have been up to date, with all Grand Slam tournaments implementing a 10-point tiebreak when a match reaches 6-6 within the ultimate set.
2004 French Open: Fabrice Santaro def. Arnaud Clement (6 hours, 33 minutes)
This primary-round match between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement lasted 6 hours and 33 minutes throughout two days. The match was halted at 5-all within the third set attributable to darkness. On Day 2, Santoro defeated Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14.
The match featured essentially the most video games (71) within the French Open since tiebreaks have been launched in 1973. After the match, Santoro stated he had issue respiration at occasions. Nevertheless, he in some way gained the subsequent day, defeating Irakli Labadze 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Santoro would ultimately lose within the third spherical to Olivier Mutis 6-0, 6-2, 6-3.
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