#3 A two-day match: Pancho Gonzales def Charlie Pasarell 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9 1969, 1st round
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An absolute marathon of a match, spanning over two days was played between a 41-year-old Pancho Gonzales and Charlie Pasarell – almost half of Pancho's age.
The crazy scoreline is more down to a lack of tie breakers and it's easy to see why they were introduced into the tennis rulebooks, but it does not take away from the stamina and spirit that Pancho showed that day; or on those days.
A total playing time of five hours and twelve minutes would bring most current players to their knees, even if it meant playing over two days. After a first set that took an eon to complete, play had to be halted when Pancho almost threw the second set and walked off in fading daylight.
The next day, Pasarell tried to make the older Pancho chase after soft serves and run around the court. It made no difference. Gonzales faced seven match points in the fifth set, which were all repelled until he finally won 11-9. It remained the longest game in tennis history till the famous Isner vs Mahut match of 2010.
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