Epic Battle of Tennis between two Gladiators (Isner and Mahut)
John Isner wrote his name into the record books as the winner of the sport’s longest ever battle, after 11 hours and five absorbing minutes on court, when he clinched the epic three-day, 183-game thriller 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-3), 70-68 at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.
On Thursday at 59-59 in the fifth set, after the two men resumed, with exactly 10 hours on the clock, the conclusion came an hour and five minutes into the third day. An elusive break of serve brought to an end an eight-hour, 11-minute final set.
Two days earlier, the last break of serve had come when Nicolas Mahut had taken Isner’s serve in the first game of the second set early on Tuesday afternoon. For an astounding 169 games, the two had held serve before Isner collapsed to the turf after converting his fifth match point.
After the final, as the two men embraced, everyone present rose as one to applaud their heroic effort. The match eclipsed the previous longest match ever played. In 2004, Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement had held the record by a massive four hours and 32 minutes.
There was a buzz of anticipation in the air, as the crowd waited for part three of this absorbing battle. To witness the drama, John McEnroe and Tracy Austin, along with Swedish umpire Mohamed Lahyani were back refreshed. After conking out at 50-all on Wednesday night, the scoreboard was in better shape, patched up and back in working order.
As Isner delivered his 100th ace on his way to holding for 60-59, the first key moment came after only a couple of minutes. Mahut matched the statistic, Fifteen minutes later as he held to bring the scores back to 62-62. Isner made it 69-68 and the match clock ticked over the 11-hour mark.
When at 40-30, Isner with a laser-like backhand left the Frenchman rooted to the spot and this shot drew the final curtain. In the second round, Isner will face Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker, himself the winner of a marathon first match, in a 16-14 deciding set. So is there another record waiting to be unfolded?
