John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut: Remembering the longest match in tennis history

Isner finally managed to beat Mahut after an epic contest that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes

Tennis history is filled with many great battles, which have enthralled tennis fans over the years. People still remember the great matches such as the one between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg in 1980 Wimbledon final, or contest between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the final of the 2008 Wimbledon.

However, the 2010 Wimbledon match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut created its own unique place in tennis annals, by becoming the longest match ever in tennis history.

Battle of the ‘servebots’

The first round Wimbledon encounter between Isner and Mahut was billed as a battle of the ‘servebots’. Both of them are tall men with big serves and a game suited to fast grass courts.

However what happened in the match was totally beyond anyone’s imagination.

First two sets

The match started on expected lines with both big servers holding their serves comfortably. In the ninth game of the first set, Isner broke Mahut’s serve after the Frenchman had double faulted twice in that game.

It proved a costly mistake as Isner won his next service game to win the first set 6-4.

The second set started with Mahut immediately striking back, breaking Isner’s serve to love in the second game. Both players held onto their remaining service games, with Mahut eventually taking the set 6-3.

So far, the action had been quite sedate. However, no one had even the smallest inkling of when the next service break of the match was eventually going to come. It was like a lull before the storm.

Sets three and four go to tiebreaks

The next two sets saw no breaks of serve and ended up going to tiebreaks.

The third set tiebreak went the distance, with Mahut winning it 9-7 at the end. It also gave him two sets to one lead in the match.

The fourth set also saw both players again holding firm on the serve. Isner finally won the set in the tiebreak 7-3 to take the match into the decisive fifth set.

The marathon final set

Both players were left extremely exhausted after two gruelling days of play

The match was halted at the end of the fourth set due to darkness. When play resumed on 23rd âÂ?Â?June, 2010, it rewrote history books and broke many records.

The fifth set also went on with no breaks of serve. Unlike the US Open, where the deciding set and match is decided by a tiebreak, other Grand Slam tournaments do not use the concept of tiebreaks.

With the final set at 9-10, Isner finally got his opportunity to claim a match point off Mahut’s serve. The American failed to convert it though, as Mahut held on to win the game.

After this, the gladiators went on for 46 more games before another break point opportunity presented itself.

Game after game went on like a whiff of air. Aces were fired all over the place. It felt like an endless encounter, something which could go on for an eternity.

Mahut too had two break point opportunities at 50-50 on Isner’s serve, however he too failed to convert his chance. Later in the evening, Isner had another match point opportunity at 58-59 during Mahut’s serve, but the result was exactly the same as the previous one.

The match was suspended for a second time on the evening of 23rd June, once again due to bad light. The onlooking spectators, who were clearly enjoying this highly competitive match of tennis, were eager for it to go on with their constant chants of ‘we want more, we want more’.

Both players were badly dehydrated and exhausted after the day’s play.

Isner reported that he was suffering great fatigue and also commented that his hunger would’ve enabled him to eat 12 big Macs, while Mahut talked about feeling physically spent as well.

The third day of the match saw the two fighters start off where they left – hitting aces and holding their own serves.

A plaque was hung out in 2011 in honour of the longest match ever

Isner finally broke Mahut in the 138th game of the final set and it was all over. The ‘endless match’ had come to an end. It felt like an anti-climax to an encounter which wasn’t supposed to end.

	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5
John Isner (USA)	6	3	6	7	70
Nicolas Mahut (FRA)	4	6	7	6	68

Both players had battled on court for 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days, hitting more than 100 aces each and setting plenty of records which will surely not be matched anytime soon. The final set alone (8 hours and 11 minutes) was longer than the previous record for the longest match ever played by 4 hours and 32 minutes.

The ‘endless match’ will continue to hold an iconic place in the pantheon of great tennis matches of all time.