General Chat

Read this for one of the most incredible tennis matches ever played

Wimbledon's modern-day gladiators John Isner and Nicolas Mahut will return to battle it out for a third day on Court 18 to finish one of the most incredible tennis matches ever played, the longest on record by even the longest mile with the clock at exactly 10 hours when play was suspended due to poor light at just after 9pm, with the score standing at an incredible 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9-7) 6-7(3-7), 59-59.

By the time the contest was halted, the two gladiators could barely stand, let alone make it back to the locker room. But they will have to make the return journey Today (Thursday), when the match resumes as the third match on the same court.

Darkness brought a premature end to a final set that had already featured a mind-boggling 118 games. Much earlier in the day, the match had resumed at two-sets all, having already been a titanic struggle on Today Tuesday. Surely a contest between the American 23rd seed and the French qualifier ranked 148 in the world would be quickly settled. But Mahut, a finalist at Queen's in 2007, is an adept competitor on grass and was not ready to give an inch. And as Britain's Alex Bogdanovic would testify, after being beaten 3-6, 6-3, 24-22 by Mahut in last week's qualifying tournament, the Frenchman is not easily put away.

So throughout a long day, ballboys and ballboys came and went, teams of linespeople were replaced, in another sporting arena England qualified for the knock-out stages of the World Cup (1 - 0 to England), but Isner and Mahut kept on slugging it out, even when the courtside scoreboard gave up the ghost.

To quickly sum up the key records: 10 hours is a new record for the longest tennis match played at Wimbledon, at any Grand Slam, in fact anywhere since someone first picked up a racket and decided to thwack a ball with it. And for those who measure length by the number of games in a match, it set a new record by that measure as well, and there's at least two more games to be played yet.

It was so exciting to watch.What time do they resume today?If they have any energy left !

I bet they are stiff this morning !!!

Court 18

Not Before:15:30
Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Round
Nicolas Mahut(FRA) leads John Isner(USA)[23]

To Finish 4-6 6-3 7-6(7) 6-7(3) 59-59

Get ready
Not long now and you can see the action.

just warming up on Court 18!!!!

Isner is probbly the only player able to look the umpire in the eye!!! He was 6'9" yesterday - might he be a little shorter today!!!

It was fantasic to watch ~just wish i could watch today.

x

been going for nearly an hour now - 68/69 to Isner

Isner's won!!

It's finally over!

John Isner wins incredible, record-breaking match 70-68 in 5th set

Congatulations John Isner

And they dont reckon tennis players to be tough! That was a real feat of endurance and will probably never be equaled.

Well done to the both of them .I actually thought it would have been the Frenchman to win .It was great and nice that it was made special for them after the match.

its doubtful if the length of his epic match will ever be repeated, 11hours and 5 minutes.....138? tie break games.......over 100 aces served by each player, surely a record that will last forever?

They just HAD to mark the occasion with a presentation of some sort!
well done to both players,And the Umpire!!!

Hi Bob i could not have said it better.
It's Never been done before & will probably Never been done again. I am pleased they made it a bit of a good thing as it's well deserved to both players & the umpire.
If you saw the match you saw history being made.
Well I am sure Wimbledon will have action for us before it's over so keep looking.

Certainly makes footballers look wimps, 90 minutes and most of them are exhausted.

It was amazing though,methinks it may be remembered longer than the winner's name this year?

I agree Pat but football is a good game too.

Hi to everybody.

Incredible stamina

well done to both players and the umpire

Gill