The longest Grand Slam matches in Tennis (men's singles)

Tennis requires immense stamina, energy and endurance. An average tennis match of 3 hours could require as much energy and staminaas it would tocomplete a marathon.Here we take a look at the 5 longest matches in Grand Slam history.

#5 Alex Corretja vs Hernan Gumy (5 hours, 31 minutes)

The 3rd round match at the 1998 French Open between Spainish Alex Corretja and Argentinas Hernan Gumy lasted for 5 hours and 31 minutes, and held the longest grand slam match record until 2004.

Corretja prevailed overGumy 6-1, 5-7, 6-7(4-7), 7-5, 9-7.

#4 Paul-Henri Mathieu vs John Isner (5 hours,41 minutes)

Paul-Henri Mathieu of France outlasted American John Isner to proceed to the third round at the 2012 French Open.

Mathieu beat Isner 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16.

"I remember Mahut's match, so I just couldn't believe it was over," admitted Mathieu. "I had match point. It was tough. Every time I needed to concentrate and focus again on my serve, so when the match was over, I had trouble realising it was really over."

#3 Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal (5 hours, 53 minutes)

The 2012 Australian Open final between Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Serbian ace Novak Djokovic stands as the longest Grand Slam final ever played.

Djokovic beat Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5-7), 7-5.

Here are some reactions after an epic final.

Nadal after the match said that:His (Djokovic) return probably is one of the best in historyand[He makes it] almost every time".

Djokovic said:"It was obvious on the court for everybody who has watched the match that both of us, physically, we took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies, we made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn't be two winners".

Rafael Nadal:"This one was very special,"he said."But I really understand that was a really special match, and probably a match that's going to be in my mind not because I lost, no, because the way that we played."

Commentator Patrick McEnroe said after the match concluded, "Unforgettable. Unmatched. A new definition of suffering for the title. You think you've seen everything and then you witness a match like this."

#2 Fabrice Santoro vs Arnaud Clement (6 hours,33 minutes)

Two frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement took on each other in the first round of the 2004 French Open.

This 6 hour 33 miniute match was played over 2 days.

Fabrice Santoro emerged victorious as he beat Arnaud Clement 6-4. 6-3, 6-7(5-7), 3-6, 16-14.

After the win, Santoro fell onto the clay and wept for a whole minute.

#1 John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut (11 hours, 5 minutes)

The 2010 Wimbledon witnessed the longest grand slam match ever played.

The first round match between John Isner of USA and frenchman Nicolas Mahut lasted for 11 hours and five miniutes. The match was played over three days.

At the end of the match, the scorecard read 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-3), 70-68 in favour of American John Isner.

• Here are some of the other records that were set during the course of this incredible match:
• – Longest set (the fifth set required 8 hours, 11 minutes).
• – Most games in a set (138 in the fifth set).
• – Most games in a match (183).
• – Most aces in a match by one player (Isner, 113).
• – Total aces in a match (Mahut's 103 aces, the second highest number by a player in a match, brought the total to 216).
• – Consecutive service games held (168; 84 for each player).
• – Most games won by both winning player (92) and losing player (91) in a match.
• – Most points won in a match (Mahut, 502).