Wimbledon 2010: Longest match turns into shortest for John Isner - Telegraph Wimbledon Wimbledon 2010: Longest match turns into shortest for John Isner He triumphed in the longest tennis match in history, beating his opponent at Wimbledon in an epic 11 hours and six minutes. Enough: John Isner walks off the court after losing to Thiemo De Bakker 3-0 Photo: REUTERS By Caroline Gammell and Heidi Blake 7:00AM BST 26 Jun 2010 Yesterday however, John Isner’s superhuman strength finally failed him as he went on to star in the shortest contest of the Wimbledon men's tournament so far. Less than 24 hours after beating Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68, the 23rd seed was beaten 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in just an hour and 14 minutes. The first set of his second round match against Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker was over yesterday in 17 minutes.

By contrast, the fifth set of his first round clash lasted eight hours and 10 minutes and took two days to complete. Isner, who is 6ft 9ins tall, was clearly shattered by his record-breaking performance which only ended on Thursday and struggled to raise his game yesterday. Related Articles Isner v Mahut in numbers 24 Jun 2010 With his shoulders slumped and head bowed, he lumbered around Court 5 in front of a sympathetic crowd. Afterwards, the 25-year-old American said: “I have never been this exhausted before. Mentally and physically, I was obviously a bit drained. I was just low on fuel out there. “I thought I might be alright… It stinks to lose in the second round.” Isner, who has pulled out of the doubles tournament because he is so tired, said he realised he was in trouble from the opening game. His shoulder and neck needed to be massaged after he lost the first set 6-0 and a severe blister on the little toe on his left foot proved painful. “I have this pretty gnarly blister. Sometimes, with a blister you can work through it.

But that wasn’t the case today.” At one stage, Isner’s mother gestured at her son from the stands, advising him to stop the match. However, he said he never considered quitting: “It wasn’t like I was dying out there. I was just tired.” Isner said he would have a long and well deserved break from tennis – for at least “four or five days”. WIMBLEDON 2010: John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in the longest tennis match ever | Daily Mail Online comments It was amazing they could walk, let alone pick up a racquet and hit something with it. But somehow, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut managed to return to Wimbledon and finish off the longest match in tennis history yesterday. After 11 hours, five minutes and several smashed records over three days, the American Isner finally won the last set 70-68. [caption] As he broke the Frenchman's serve to take the match, he looked as if he couldn't quite believe it. The 6ft 9in hulk let out a yelp, threw his racquet up in the air and then collapsed to the grass.

RELATED ARTICLES Share Mahut looked as if the world had just ended. Someone always had to lose - 'that's tennis', as Roger Federer had said. But after the gladiatorial contest everyone had witnessed, you somehow wished that both men could go through to the next round. Afterwards Mahut, 28, gulped: 'At the moment it's very painful but it was amazing to play today. The crowd was fantastic. John deserved to win. 'He served unbelievable, he's a champion. It was really an honour to play the greatest match ever at the greatest place for tennis. It was very long but I think we both enjoyed it.' When Isner dragged himself off the ground, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face and looked as if he had won the whole Championship itself, instead of just the first battle on the way. [caption] The 25-year-old said: 'This crowd was fantastic. What more can you say? The guy's an absolute warrior. It stinks someone had to lose. To share this with him was an absolute honour.

Maybe we'll meet again somewhere down the road and it won't be 70-68.' In the end, it took just over an hour yesterday afternoon for him to finish off Mahut. Small beer really, in comparison to their seven-hour-and-six-minutes marathon the day before. But the women can play a whole three-set match in the time yesterday's face-off took. And it didn't take Andy Murray that much longer to dispatch his second-round opponent. Isner and Mahut had started play long, long ago at 6pm on Tuesday and managed two hours 54 minutes before poor light meant the match was suspended. On Wednesday in the sweltering heat they played another gruelling seven hours and six minutes before play was stopped shortly after 9pm. Both men looked exhausted, fit to drop. Isner came off court and ate three meals, including one of takeaway provided by his friend Andy Roddick. Neither he nor Mahut slept much. Isner said he got up with the sun at 4am while the Frenchman managed three hours in bed. [caption] [caption] The Queen and Andy Murray may have diverted some attention earlier in the day.

But by mid-afternoon the only thing anyone cared about was getting a seat on Court 18 to watch the clash of the titans. So much so that even tennis legends and BBC commentators John McEnroe and Tracy Austin struggled to find a seat. They were turned away by one steward, who told them there was no room at the inn. [caption] But when they tried another more obliging gentleman, he turfed out two female spectators who had been patiently waiting for the match to start, so the celebrities could sit down. After it had all finished, Mahut was desperate to escape. But when he tried to walk off the court he was stopped and had to wait for a commemorative presentation with Tim Henman and Ann Jones. What he will do with the engraved crystal bowl and champagne flutes, given to both players, is anyone's guess. The good news for Isner is that it was over and he had won. The bad news is that he will have to do it all over again today. His second round match against Holland's Thiemo De Bakker starts at noon. At least there'll be plenty of people watching. Before Tuesday no one had ever really heard of John Isner or Nicolas Mahut. They have now.

BBC Sport - Tennis - Wimbledon 2010: John Isner beats Nicolas Mahut in epic Wimbledon 2010: John Isner beats Nicolas Mahut in epic Wimbledon Championships Venue: All England Club, London Date: 21 June - 4 July Coverage: Live on BBC One and Two, HD, Red Button, BBC Sport website (UK only), Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra; live text commentary online and on mobile phones; watch again on BBC iPlayer Full details of BBC coverage Isner finally wins marathon match By David Ornstein BBC Sport at Wimbledon American John Isner held his nerve to overcome Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the deciding set of their unforgettable first-round encounter at Wimbledon. Isner outlasted Frenchman Mahut to win 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3) 70-68 in the longest match in history, taking 11 hours and five minutes over three days. Play resumed at 59-59 in the fifth set and both men confidently held serve before Isner struck in game 138.

The 23rd seed plays Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands in round two on Friday. "This crowd was fantastic," Isner told BBC Sport's John Inverdale on court at the end. "What more can you say? The guy's an absolute warrior. It stinks someone had to lose. "To share this with him was an absolute honour. Maybe we'll meet again somewhere down the road and it won't be 70-68." Exhausted marathon pair honoured by Wimbledon A physically and emotionally-drained Mahut commented: "At this moment I'm just really thankful. It was amazing today. John deserved to win. He served unbelievable, he's a champion. "It was really an honour to play the greatest match ever at the greatest place for tennis. It was very long but I think we both enjoyed it." Before the interview the pair were each presented with a crystal bowl and crystal champagne flutes by the All England Club to mark their historic match. The duel will go down as the most extraordinary in tennis history, smashing the previous records for the longest match, the longest set, the most games in a set and a match, the most aces in a match and the most aces by a player.

Isner finished with 112 aces and Mahut 103, easily beating the previous record - held by Croatia's Ivo Karlovic - of 78. Aside from the Queen's first visit to Wimbledon since 1977, there was only one topic of conversation on people's lips as the All England Club opened its gates for day four of what has already been an unforgettable Championships. There was no sign of either player among the early arrivals at SW19 but, on his Twitter page, Isner wrote "Feel like a million bucks!!!" while Mahut undertook a gentle lunchtime practice session. It was really an honour to play the greatest match ever at the greatest place for tennis. It was very long but I think we both enjoyed it Nicolas Mahut "Apparently Mahut was on the treadmill warming up before the match and seemed fine," said Britain's Andy Murray after beating Jarkko Nieminen in front of the Queen on Centre Court. At about 1530 BST and with a unmistakeable buzz of excitement around the grounds, Isner and Mahut were escorted from the men's locker room to Court 18 by a gaggle of security guards.

Greeted with applause and cheers from a capacity crowd, which included former world number ones John McEnroe and Tracy Austin and scores of reporters and photographers, the pair skipped on to the grass and waved to all corners. After a short knock-up, umpire Mohamed Lahyani announced "59 games all, Isner to serve, final set", at which point he and the spectators enjoyed a brief chuckle. It looked as though a swift conclusion may have been in sight when Isner opened with a double-fault, but a couple of body-serves and his 100th ace helped ease any nerves. 606: DEBATE Should Wimbledon introduce a fifth-set tie-break? A sprightly Mahut replied with a confident service hold of his own, reeling off a delightful backhand winner down the line and closing out with a booming ace - his 96th of the match. Isner appeared to be labouring physically but his serve - rarely dipping below the 130 mph mark - consistently averted any hint of danger.

When Mahut lashed his 100th and 101st aces in game 124, the giant from North Carolina bent towards the ground in exasperation, yet serving first with new balls at 62-62 seemed to reinvigorate him. Rasping winners and aces came and went as the scoreboard entered uncharted territory with every passing game. Mahut's groundtsrokes were operating more effectively than those of Isner, who was repeatedly struggling to get round his forehand, but the 6ft 9ins right-hander's relentless power and unshakeable concentration took the breath away. When you are so focussed and every point feels like a match point you just don't even think about eating or needing the bathroom. I travel Economy so seven hours sitting still on court is nothing Umpire Mohamed Lahyani Isner whacked his leg in frustration after missing a passing opportunity in game 130 and at one point threw his racquet to the deck as he failed to find a way through Mahut's defences.

However, he seemed to gain the momentum when a sensational forehand pick-up helped him hold to love for a 68-67 lead and three games later Isner made his move. At 15-15 Mahut netted a straightforward drop shot with Isner stranded behind the baseline and the 25-year-old American then came up with two forehand passes to seal an epic triumph on his fifth match point. "It has been quite amazing to be involved with such an extraordinary match," said Lahyani. "I can't imagine seeing another one like it in my lifetime. "I didn't get a chance to feel tired, I was gripped by the amazing match and my concentration stayed good - I owed that to the players, their stamina was breath-taking and their behaviour exceptional. "I think the longest match I've ever chair umpired before was five and a half hours long - that's a lot less than even the third set of this one! "When you are so focussed and every point feels like a match point you just don't even think about eating or needing the bathroom. "On Wednesday my voice did get a little dry, but I have drunk plenty today and it feels good.

I travel Economy so seven hours sitting still on court is nothing." To compound Mahut's misery he was later back on Court 18 with doubles partner Arnaud Clement and the French pair were trailing Britain's Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski 7-6 (7-4) when play was suspended. Isner and Mahut fire their 100th aces Bookmark with: 2010 Wimbledon: John Isner beats Nicolas Mahut to win longest match at Wimbledon comment WIMBLEDON, England -- When The Match That Would Not End finally did, at 70-68 in the fifth set, after a record 11 hours, 5 minutes spread over three days, the customary handshake between opponents simply would not suffice. So when John Isner of the United States won the longest match in tennis history and went to the net to greet Nicolas Mahut of France, who -- for lack of a better word -- lost Thursday at Wimbledon, Isner pulled Mahut in for a hug. "You know," Isner told the crowd moments later, "it stinks someone had to lose." Quite true.

There were 980 points overall, and Mahut won more, 502-478. There were 711 points in the fifth set, and Mahut won more, 365-346. But Isner won the most important point of all: the last one, which happened to be a rather nondescript backhand winner down the line. It allowed Isner to break Mahut's serve for only the second time all match. That was also the only service break of the seemingly interminable fifth set, ending a run of 168 consecutive holds that began in the second set, all the way back on Tuesday. Essentially, the match lasted as long as it did for two reasons: Neither man could break the other's serve, and Wimbledon does not employ a tiebreak in the fifth set. "Especially once the match got past, you know, 25-all, I wasn't really thinking," said Isner, who led the University of Georgia to the 2007 NCAA team tennis championship.

"Hitting a serve and trying to hit a forehand winner is the only thing I was doing." When it did conclude, Isner dropped down to the court, rolled on his back and kicked his legs in the air. After the players briefly spoke, Mahut sat in his changeover chair, stared blankly ahead and then draped a purple-and-yellow Wimbledon towel over his head. "It's really painful," Mahut said. The 23rd-seeded Isner's 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 victory was merely a first-round match between two relatively unheralded players. Yet it will be remembered far more distinctly -- and discussed far more frequently -- than many a Grand Slam final, not because of the stakes, certainly, or the quality of play, necessarily, but because of all the math involved. "The numbers," Mahut said, "speak for themselves." To wit: The 183 games and total time, both far beyond the existing records of 112 and 6:33. The 138 games and 8:11 in the fifth set alone, also records.

Isner's 112 aces in the match, and Mahut's 103, both much higher than the old mark of 78. The combined 490 winners (Isner had more, 246-244) and only 91 unforced errors (Isner had more, 52-39). "We played the greatest match ever, in the greatest place to play tennis," said Mahut, who is ranked 148th and went through qualifying. "I thought he would make a mistake. I waited for that moment, and it never came." Instead, Mahut faltered -- 46 hours, 39 minutes after the first point was played -- and later acknowledged his abdominal muscles were aching Thursday. Both men showed remarkable resilience, even if they moved increasingly slowly. They began at 6:09 p.m. Tuesday, but action was suspended after the fourth set because of darkness. And following 7 hours, 6 minutes of play Wednesday, the match was suspended again at 59-59 in the final set. At some juncture as daylight was turning to dusk Wednesday, Isner said, "I was completely delirious. ...

Even though it was dark, and no one could see, I wanted a final verdict, win or lose. I didn't want to have to sleep on it. But it wasn't to be." Indeed, they had to come back Thursday afternoon, when another 20 games -- the equivalent of at least two sets -- and another 1 hour, 5 minutes were required to wrap things up at 4:48 p.m. "I'm tired watching this," kidded three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, who took it in from a third-row seat. "It's Herculean what they're doing. ... I had to come pay my respects." While Mahut remained mostly straightfaced and silent Thursday, Isner was constantly muttering to himself after missing shots. His coach, Craig Boynton, kept imploring Isner, yelling, "That's the right stuff, kid!" or "You'll get your look, kid!" After needing three days to finish his first-round match, John Isner will be back on the court for a fourth straight day Friday to play his second-round match. Getty Images Eventually, Isner did.

Coming out of a changeover ahead 69-68, he got to 15-all when Mahut pushed a forehand long. On the next point, Mahut hit a poor drop shot that hit the net and then yanked at his hair and grimaced, the score now 15-30. His volley winner made it 30-all, but Mahut would not win another point. Isner smacked a forehand passing winner down the line to earn his fifth match point of the fifth set -- he had wasted four such chances Wednesday -- and shook his fists, while Mahut rolled his eyes. And then, in a blink, it was over, thanks to Isner's last backhand. "It was the will to win. Not that I outwilled him; I mean, obviously, he gave it his all," Isner said. "I just kind of was a little bit more fortunate than he was." As he basked in the crowd's standing ovation, Isner made sure to point in Mahut's direction and applaud, too. There were moments the night before when Isner wasn't sure he'd be standing at the end. Mom wasn't so sure, either.

"At the end of yesterday, I was worried," Isner's mother, Karen, who sat in the stands, said Thursday. "He was kind of stumbling around, and I was kind of worried. My friends had to sort of hold me back, because I was kind of inclined to go on the court and go, 'OK. That's it. We're done here.'" Understandably, both men were wiped out Wednesday night. Isner "was incoherent" for 20 minutes, according to Boynton. Isner and Mahut tried to recover as best they could, with ice baths and massages, by drinking and eating plenty. Andy Roddick , the 2003 U.S. Open champion who played earlier Wednesday, went out and got an assortment of takeout food for Isner and his coach, including pizzas, chicken and mashed potatoes. The 25-year-old Isner, of Tampa, Fla., was heretofore best known -- if known at all -- for upsetting fellow American Roddick in the U.S. Open's third round last year and never before had won a match at the All England Club.

The 28-year-old Mahut's biggest accomplishment probably was his Wimbledon junior title in 2000; as a pro, he's only once been to the third round at any Grand Slam tournament. So it was understandable that neither managed more than about three or four hours of sleep Wednesday night, anxious about getting back out there. After all, cozy Court 18 might have only 782 seats, but it had become their big stage. "Not often do I steal the show from a guy like Federer, but I think I did," Isner said. Roger Federer , who owns a record 16 Grand Slam titles, including six at the All England Club, was among the fellow pros gushing about the enormity of this match. "I knew it was probably a big deal around the tennis world, because this is Wimbledon, so anybody that follows tennis, all eyes are on this tournament," Isner said. "It was when I got back to the locker room that I realized, you know, how big of a story it was, really, worldwide." And there's no rest for the weary now. Isner is due at Court 5 on Friday at noon (7 a.m.

ET) to face 49th-ranked Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands, whose own first-round victory normally would be considered something extraordinary, because it went to 16-14 in the fifth set. Ha! 16-14! How mundane. Whatever else Isner or Mahut may accomplish in tennis, however many matches or titles each may win, they will forever be associated with these three days at the All England Club and one particular score: 70-68. Isner recognizes that. He is also intent on adding to his resume. "This one's obviously going to stick with me probably the rest of my life, really. But I hope it doesn't define my career. I think I have what it takes, you know, to do some really big things in this game," Isner said. "The four biggest tournaments of the year are the Grand Slams. I have probably a good seven, eight years left to try to make a good run at 'em.

So hopefully this won't be the thing that I'm most remembered about." The greatest Wimbledon match of all time | British GQ SPORT The greatest Wimbledon match of all time 2010's Wimbledon saw the most extraordinary game of tennis in its 125-year history: an epic contest between two relative unknowns that lasted three days, captivated the world, smashed records and - as John Isner and Nicolas Mahut tell GQ - nearly broke its two competitors. Monday 23 June 2014 Photography by PA Photos Curiously, it's not an image I remember best from the match, but a sound. At seemingly incongruous moments in the fifth set of the last year's first-round tie between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, the crowd on Court 18 at Wimbledon emitted a nervous giggle. Advertisement Wimbledon crowds don't usually giggle. Of course, they have a famously low threshold for laughter. A rogue pigeon, for example, can reduce Centre Court to weepy guffaws. But this was something higher and finer than laughter. The sound rose from Court 18 like freshly applied cologne. It was the noise of a crowd watching a tightrope walk, not a tennis match.

And it told you one thing: the spectators could not process the evidence placed before their eyes. They did not believe that two professional tennis players could fail to win, or refuse to lose a match for so long. MORE SPORT Stone Island’s Carlo Rivetti on fashion and football GQ STYLE MAGAZINE Stone Island’s Carlo Rivetti on fashion and football And yet, somehow, they did. Mahut served the first ball of the match at 6.13pm, on Tuesday 22 June. The match finally ended at 4.48pm on Thursday 24 June. There were no breaks for rain. The fifth set alone lasted eight hours and eleven minutes, spanned two days and was 98 minutes longer than the previous longest Grand Slam match ever played: Fabrice Santoro's victory over Arnaud Clément at the French Open in 2004. Indeed, for extended periods of that final set between Isner and Mahut - when game after game finished decisively in favour of the server - it seemed not only that the match would never end, but that it could never end. It was in these moments that the contest became more interesting than mere sport.

It was between these games that the crowd got the giggles. When Isner eventually passed Mahut with a double-handed backhand to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68, the assembled punditariat naturally reached for the record books. The match was not only, by some distance, the longest ever played, but broke the records for the longest set, the most games in a set (138), most games in a match (183), most aces in a match by one player (Isner: 113), total aces (216), and most points scored (Mahut: 502). My favourite statistic, though, is that in the fifth set, Mahut successfully served to stay in the match 64 games in a row - a display of extraordinary fortitude. Advertisement The trouble with these statistics, however, is that they tell only one story: the match was long. The numbers reveal nothing about why Isner and Mahut played as they did, or what demons entered their minds and bodies.

They can't relate how, at the end of the second day's play, Isner was so bereft of energy that he briefly desired any kind of conclusion - even a loss - because the prospect of returning to play the following day horrified him. And, of course, the statistics tell you nothing about what has happened to the players since the match. They cannot map the strange and intense kinship these men now feel because of their three-day dance in the London sunshine. There are many reasons why professional tennis matches do not normally last eleven hours. Most tournament matches are best-of-three sets and include tie-breakers when the games reach six-all in any set. Only three of the Grand Slams - Wimbledon, the French Open and Australian Open - play men's singles and doubles over five sets, with no tie-breaker in the last. But, even at the three Grand Slams where a marathon is technically possible, fifth sets rarely go beyond 20 games. At some point, errors and exhaustion decide the match. But neither Isner or Mahut blinked. To understand how, and why, you need to know the distance they travelled to their mammoth fifth set.

As Boris Vallejo, Mahut's affable coach, explains: "nothing comes from nothing." Photography by PA Photos Nicolas Mahut is 6'3", with a wiry frame, an impish smile and the hair of a man falling down an elevator shaft. Born in Angers in January 1982, he began attending specialist tennis boarding schools from the age of 12. As a junior, he won the French championships at 15, 16, 17, and 18, reached the semifinals of Roland Garros, won the doubles titles at the US Open and Australian Open and won the singles title at Wimbledon in 2000, beating Mario Ancic in the final - a victory that cemented his love for the London tournament. Mahut anticipated a bright future when he turned professional in 2000, but individual sports like tennis have a way of kicking talented juniors in the teeth. The early years are hard. As an outstanding teenager, Mahut became accustomed to playing the latter stages of Grand Slam events. As a fledgling pro, he was playing tiny tournaments in front of nobody - and losing.

To compound the loneliness of life on the road, his mother, Brigitte, was ill for the first years of his professional career. She died in 2005. "My mother's sickness impacted on my tennis a lot," he tells me, when we have lunch at the Tennis Club de Paris. "Also, I switched coaches a lot, which didn't help. Because you are on your own, you must be very strong in your mind to progress as a tennis player. It took me a long time." Certainly, observers have suggested that Mahut lacks the mental toughness to bolster his considerable talent. "In the past that was true," he says. "At big moments, I've lost some matches because mentally I was a little bit weak. I know some other players thought that about me." Mahut's career, though, has not been without success. A grass-court specialist with a serve-and-volley game, he can cause top players real trouble. In 2007, his best year, he beat Rafael Nadal at Queen's before losing narrowly to Andy Roddick in the final. The following year, he reached a career-high world ranking of No.40, before his game began to slip.

In 2009, having spent much of the season injured, he dropped out of the world top 100. Vallejo says that, before Mahut arrived at Wimbledon last year, his injuries during the off-season had been severe enough that he had considered, "if only for a few seconds", quitting the sport altogether. But this glimpse of a life beyond tennis seems to have redoubled Mahut's desire. "When I was injured, the only thing I thought about was Wimbledon," he says. "I had a huge will to succeed. I had great coaches, and I had a new training partner, Arnaud Clément [the 2001 Australian Open finalist and a competitor in the previous longest match in history], who was very intense. Voilà: I learned a lot. It was like I had been given a fresh start." Mahut was ranked 148 in the world when he arrived in SW19 last June, meaning he needed to win three rounds of qualifiers to enter the main draw. At his final practice session, he made a prediction to his coach. "Nico told me, 'First match of the qualies, I'll play well,'" says Vallejo.

"'Second one is going to be difficult, but I'm going to get through. Last match, I'm not going to play well, but I'm going to win. Then, if I qualify, I'm going to play really well.'" Mahut's prophecy came true. He beat the mercurial Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-0 in the first qualifier. Then, in a prelude to his marathon final set with Isner, he beat the British journeyman Alex Bogdanovic 3-6, 6-3, 24-22. In the last round, he came back from two sets down to beat the veteran Stefan Koubek, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. And, in practice before his first-round match against Isner, Vallejo says Mahut "hit the ball beautifully - we didn't have to change a thing". Photography by PA Photos John Isner is 26 years old and 6'9". Raised in a conservative North Carolina family, he has a convivial manner and the carriage of a doleful giraffe.

When we meet, shortly after he had lost a first-round match to a lower-ranked Russian at the Delray Beach tournament in Florida, he lay out on his hotel sofa and dangled a flip-flop on the end of his big toe throughout the interview. Isner was a late developer. Despite having been a gifted teenage player, he didn't have a growth spurt until he was 16 - and, at 18, he wasn't "strong enough, or good enough" to turn professional. Instead, he went to the University of Georgia on a tennis scholarship, where there were "a lot of good parties, and a lot of pretty girls", and later captained his college team to the national championship watched by 6,000 drunken student fans. "It was pretty awesome," he recalls. When Isner turned professional in 2007, he made an immediate impact. In his first six weeks, he climbed 646 ranking places, largely due to a run at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic event, where, as a wildcard entry, he beat Tim Henman, Tommy Haas and Gaël Monfils before losing to Roddick in the final.

He also reached the third round of his first US Open, where he lost to Roger Federer - but not before becoming one of only two players in the draw to take a set off the champion. Isner had a disappointing 2008, but in 2009, he started working with Craig Boynton - an expressive 46-year-old coach who now regards John with avuncular pride. The switch worked. By the end of 2009, Isner was voted the tour's most improved player, and in January 2010, he won his first major tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Indeed, when he arrived at Wimbledon in 2010, he was ranked No.19 in the world. But, despite possessing natural assets for grass - particularly a rocket serve - he was wary about Wimbledon. He still calls it his "worst surface". His coach decided special training was in order. Matches on grass can go long, and are often settled by a few key points, so Boynton decided to exercise Isner's "concentration muscle" by having him train continuously for three or four hours at a time in the humidity of a Florida summer.

Once Isner had packed his bags for London, Boynton was convinced his charge was in "great shape". When they stepped off the plane at Heathrow, it was 20ºC and cloudless. Boynton said, "Johnny, look at this weather - you can play for ten hours in this." *** Court 18 at Wimbledon is an unusual setup. The playing surface - which is flanked on one side by a public walkway, and at one end by the terrace of the curved glass media centre - appears to sit in an asymmetric hollow. Despite this, the arena can generate intensity. The bleachers are sharply banked, meaning the court feels intimate. And, during popular matches, those who are too late to nab one of the 782 seats can watch from the public terrace above. As Isner and Mahut knocked up at around 6pm on a warm Tuesday evening, few people expected a classic. The gangly American was fancied to beat the low-ranked Frenchman in routine fashion. Still, the court was nearly full and buzzed with chitchat. When the players walked onto court to light applause, Mahut fidgeted with the necklace underneath his Lacoste shirt.

Meanwhile Isner, dressed in baggy whites and backwards cap, looked disarmingly languid. As the handsome Swedish chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, called time, the scene had the feel of cocktail hour on the Côte d'Azur. The match, however, belied its somnolent setting. The players split the first two sets as Mahut then Isner were punished for making errors on serve. The level of tennis then rose perceptibly. Both the third and the fourth sets were settled by thrilling tie-breakers. In the last, Isner was four points from exiting the tournament. He then won five unanswered points to level the score at two sets all. At 9.07pm, play was suspended for bad light. No player likes to sleep on an unfinished match. But, of the two men, Mahut had gone to bed happier. He thought the score reflected the level of play, and that he had a good chance to prevail. Isner, meanwhile, was content enough with his game, but irritated he had been unable to defeat Mahut that evening. He had been looking forward to a rest day before his second round tie. Now, he knew he was in a "dogfight".

Photography by PA Photos The next afternoon, the weather at Wimbledon was 26ºC, with unbroken sunshine and no humidity - "crisp, light air", remembers Boynton. In other words, perfect conditions for aces. As they warmed up, both players were implored to concentrate on their serve. Isner needed no reminding. "From the third set tie-breaker onwards, I decided I wasn't going to lose this match by playing a loose game. I told myself: if I hold my serve, I can't lose." Shortly before 2pm, the players walked out onto court again. Isner's bag may have felt heavier than usual. Boynton had told the trainer, Rocket Marshall, to pack extra energy bars. "This might go awhile," said Boynton. "I wouldn't be surprised if this set went into the mid-teens [in games]. Make sure he has a few bars." Boynton's instinct was correct. Both men came out and served each other dry. The set reached six-all without a hint of a break. Throughout the first 12 games, the spectators - some of whom had fashioned newspaper hats to protect themselves from the afternoon sun - were church-quiet.

It was as if they all knew they were in for a long haul. In the heat, and with the match in the balance, both players reverted to their mantra: serve big; wait for his mistake. The moment nearly came at 10-9, when Mahut double-faulted twice and surrendered a match point. "If I win that point, nobody talks about this match ever again," says Isner. But he didn't, and they do. Mahut aced him for deuce, then held easily. Isner did not have another match point until 33-32, when the Frenchman held his serve from 15-40 down, and sent the crowd wild. Mahut had his first opportunity in the set after 100 games - or the equivalent of nine sets of normal competitive tennis. How was that possible? Both players, clearly, served well. But their ground strokes were near-perfect, too. They each made dozens of winners, and few unforced errors. Isner remembers feeling so happy with his game that "it's hard to explain. I never thought about technique. I had no dark thoughts in my mind.

I was just swinging away and the balls were going in - no matter if it was a big point, or whatever. It was crazy." Mahut, meanwhile, recalls a spiritual dimension to his play. "When we got into the money-time at 6-6 [he says 'money-time' in English], there was only John, myself, and my team. No one else. I didn't hear the crowd. There was only the present. I didn't think about the point before, or the point after. I just stayed in the moment. I had absolutely no fear. The level of focus and awareness I had was so high. Normally, you don't keep up for a long time. But that moment - I kept it for a long time." Mahut's enjoyment, he says, was triggered by more than competition. After the many frustrations in his career, his pleasure came from fulfilling his potential. Mahut's description is similar to what the French cyclist of the Fifties, Jean Bobet, calls "la volupté": a sensual state of perfect sporting execution. "La volupté," wrote Bobet, "is delicate, intimate and ephemeral. It arrives, it takes hold of you, sweeps you up then leaves you again.

It is for you alone. It is a combination of speed and ease, force and grace. It is pure happiness." How did it feel to play tennis like that? "It was the biggest moment of my life," says Mahut, gravely. "It was magical." When the fifth set moved into the thirties in games, the crowd became raucous. Groups of spectators - most, presumably, unaware of either players' existence before the match - began dividing themselves into "Nico" and "John" supporters. But some observers also became anxious for the players. Isner, certainly, appeared shattered. He could still hit the ball cleanly, but between points he staggered around the baseline - often with a towel hanging out of his mouth. Meanwhile, news of the extraordinary match had trickled around the championship. Spectators began to jostle for room above the official seating. Morgan Menahem, Mahut's agent, remembers leaving his seat and being unable to return. He watched the final portion of Wednesday's play from the hurly-burly of the walkway, in a crowd that included puzzled bystanders and "the greats of the game" - including John McEnroe.

In the wider world, too, Isner and Mahut caught the imagination. On the Wednesday night, I heard two women discussing the match in my local café in northwest London. The score was around 39-all. It was clear that neither one of them was a tennis fan, but the drama of these two deadlocked players had hypnotised them. They were thrilled and giggly. And there was something wonderful and baffling about the sheer length of the match. On that Wednesday, while those men played tennis for seven hours, England beat Slovenia in the World Cup , negotiations to avert a Tube strike failed, a hurricane formed off Mexico, and an American man detained in Pakistan for attempting to assassinate Osama bin Laden was freed. It was as if time had bent around the match in some way. The players, and their coaches, felt this sensation themselves. Isner calls it "rewind, play... rewind, play". Boynton says, "It was like time was standing still and moving at light speed at the same time. I don't know if people really understand that. I don't really know if I understand what was going on." Photography by PA Photos On court, philosophy could wait.

By the late-thirties in games, Isner's discomfort was obvious. In response, Mahut sprinted for every ball and skipped out of his chair at the restarts. This contrast in body language is what many people remember from the match. It was as if Tigger were playing Eeyore. "I could see he was very tired," remembers Mahut. "I was tired too, of course, but I didn't want to show anyone. I wanted him to think I was unstoppable. I couldn't find a solution in the game - he was serving too well - so I had to get an advantage somewhere. It was a second fight, a psychological fight." Oddly, Isner's fatigue entrenched the rhythm of the match. As his exhaustion deepened, he focused even more heavily on his serve. On returning games where his opponent won two points quickly, he decided to conserve energy. In this way, the match drew on. At 48-47, the scoreboard misfired. At 50-all, it gave up altogether. Meanwhile, the crowd gave the players a standing ovation. The next game, Isner survived two break points. On the second, Mahut made him hit a tricky overhead smash.

Isner nailed it, won the game, and went back to his seat thinking, "The next few points will decide the game." He was wrong. By the fifties in games, Court 18 was in shadow. At this point, Boynton could tell "John had nothing in the tank". Indeed, during the latter stages of Wednesday's play, Isner turned to his coach and asked, "What is this guy on?" The answer was adrenaline. Mahut remembers sitting down at the changeover and "feeling the electricity from the crowd". Every changeover, he put a towel over his head and one over his legs. He refused to look at the photographers, who gathered only two feet away. "It was my own moment, a privileged moment," he remembers. "I needed to stay calm." At 58-all, Isner called a bathroom break. Mahut decided to leave the court, too. As they walked, Isner spoke to his opponent for the first time in two days of tennis. He apologised for calling the break, because he knew it might affect Mahut's concentration. At that moment, despite the state of the match, the Frenchman felt a surge of goodwill towards his opponent.

It was the beginning of a great friendship. Isner, however, had been right about Mahut's concentration. At 59-58, Isner manufactured a break point on the Frenchman's serve. Mahut responded with an ace, and won the game. He then approached the umpire to say he couldn't see the ball. The night before, during the fourth set tie-breaker, Mahut had hit two double faults in failing light. He did not want to lose the match that way. Isner, despite blisters that had bled through his shoes, was desperate to continue. "I wanted a conclusion," he remembers. "I just wanted to go to bed knowing I'm either in the second round, or I don't have to go to the courts tomorrow." So a loss would have been preferable to continuing the match the next day? "Yeah," he says, smiling. "I think of myself as a pretty good competitor and I've never felt anything like that before." After some discussion, the match was suspended at 9.10pm. The spectators unleashed a cacophony of laughter, applause and ironic booing. A few began a chant of "We want more." By then, the players had competed for ten hours.

The score was two sets each, and 59-all. Isner returned to the locker room "out of sorts". "He kept saying, over and over, 'Why can't I beat this guy? What am I doing wrong?'" remembers Boynton. "I said, 'John, are you kidding? You're making history!'" While Isner took an ice bath - "the most miserable 12 minutes of my life" - his friend Roddick burst in, and asked if there was anything he could do to help. Boynton suggested he could organise dinner, and that night, Roddick sent "chicken, pizza, calories" to Isner's rented flat in Wimbledon Village. Before Isner collapsed into bed, he and Boynton checked their laptops to discover that the match had set the world on fire. "That was the point he realised, 'This is cool,'" says Boynton. "And also - 'I gotta win this.'" Mahut, meanwhile, felt sprightly. At the conclusion of play, he went to the gym to warm down for 15 minutes, before returning to his hotel, and eating a small dinner of chicken and pasta at a nearby restaurant.

Unable to sleep, he stayed up chatting - "kind of about the match, but also about other things", remembers Vallejo - before crashing at 1.30am. At 5.30am, he sent Vallejo a text message saying, "I can't sleep; you want to go for a walk?" On their morning stroll, Mahut tried to avoid all news of the match. But, having bought L'Equipe to check on the football World Cup, he found his picture on the front page. "I didn't read any of it," he says. Photography by PA Photos By Thursday, the story of the longest tennis match in history had become a global news event. For most of the afternoon, camera crews competed for space on the terrace of the media centre. The moment the main gates opened, spectators with ground tickets rushed for their chance to secure a seat on Court 18 and witness history. Even the screen on Henman Hill was tuned to Isner vs Mahut. And when the players walked out in the mid-afternoon sunshine, they received an uproarious ovation. They had taken most of the day to prepare for that moment.

Boynton, in particular, was anxious for Isner to warm up as close to the resumption of play as possible. "I felt that he was vulnerable in his first service game, but that if he pulled through it, and got back into his rhythm, he'd be fine," he says. Isner himself remembers "hurting that morning", but soon feeling "remarkably fresh on court". Mahut also felt good about his prospects. And once Isner had come through a shaky start on his serve - a double fault followed by a second serve that clipped the line - the match settled into a familiar rhythm. Service hold followed service hold. At some point in that final session - Isner doesn't remember when - the American had an epiphany. "I realised that he wasn't going to just give me the match," he says. "I was going to have to go and win it." He began to expend more energy on Mahut's serve. In fact, his opponent nearly won the match himself. At 30-30, and 68-all in games, Mahut had an opportunity to pass Isner on his second serve.

He missed the backhand wide, Isner held, and they changed ends at 69-68. Mahut still finds the moment of defeat difficult to discuss, nearly a year on. "In my mind, it was the only tennis match I have ever played where I knew I could not lose," he says. "So, when I did..." Certainly, in the immediate aftermath of the game, he suffered a breakdown. With the adrenaline of combat gone, and lactic acid flooding his muscles, he was forced to endure a specially convened ceremony on court in which the two players were awarded champagne flutes in honour of their record-breaking match, and to pose in front of the scoreboard. He returned to the locker room at the earliest opportunity. Vallejo supported him the last few yards. Once inside, Mahut not only wept inconsolably, but found it hard to stand or breathe. The doctor was called. Vallejo eventually carried his player into the shower, in his clothes. Meanwhile, Mahut was unable to remember anything about the final game or its aftermath.

He kept asking the same question: "Did I lose the match, or did he win it?" Just three hours later, Mahut was competing in the men's doubles with Clément - a tie that was also, cruelly, scheduled for Court 18. Why did he play? "To have conceded that match as well would have felt like another loss," he says. During the first set of that doubles encounter - which he would eventually lose in four sets (7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6), after another overnight break for bad light - Isner was being interviewed on the terrace above the court. Psychologically, remembers Mahut, it was "very difficult". A week later, Mahut sent Isner an e-mail. He wrote because he could not remember congratulating his opponent at the end of the match. In fact, when the two men embraced at the net - a double-handed hug from Isner, reciprocated with a single arm around the back from Mahut -they had spoken warmly. In the e-mail, Mahut told Isner he showed "incredible fair play" throughout, and "real class" by celebrating his victory in a humble manner.

He also thanked Isner, because the match had taught him many things. What? "Everything that had been written about my physical and mental boundaries was wrong." These lessons, however, were slow to register. In the three months following Wimbledon, Mahut experienced injuries and depression. He often replayed the match in his dreams - and some nights, he won. Now the dreams and depression have stopped. He is playing well, and back in the world top 100. The match inspires, rather than haunts him: "I can see now that this is not going into the history books as a loss or a win, but because we both achieved something unbelievable." Moreover, he and Isner remain "really good friends". They talk and text often. "We will keep that closeness for the rest of our lives," says Mahut. "I know he felt really sad at the end. He knows how difficult it would have been for him to lose that match. What we had for three days, we will never live through again." Photography by PA Photos The day after beating Mahut, Isner lost in the second round to Thiemo de Bakker of Holland in three sets and 74 minutes.

His body, particularly his neck, was stiff as steel. Oddly, he now finds the match more painful to discuss than Mahut. "I'm trying to get over it, in my head," he says. "I want to be remembered for more than that match. But, yeah, every time I speak to Nico, I'm reminded a little bit about it." At the time of writing, Isner is No.33 in the world. This slip down the rankings is probably unrelated to his crazy Wimbledon. Players experience peaks and troughs of form. But Boynton says Isner has struggled to negotiate the aftermath of his match against Mahut. "For a while, there was a lot of attention. Every tournament, someone in the crowd called out '70-68'. They wanted to share what it meant. But John was trying to win the tournament in front of him. He didn't want to go back in time. When he wins a big tournament, he'll find it more palatable. But it's never going to go away completely." Advertisement This is the game Mahut cannot remember. At 69-68, he served to stay in the match for a 65th time.

Isner missed a forehand wide for 15-0. Mahut then missed a forehand long. At 15-15, Mahut fluffed a drop-shot, before making a difficult volley on the next point. And, at 30-30, Isner fired a forehand winner down the line for his fifth match point. The crowd - at the court, on the hill, in their living rooms - erupted. At 30-40, Mahut dried the sweat from his face with a tennis ball. A tiny piece of fluff from the ball attached itself to his nose, and he wiped it away with his hand. He looked up, served deep to Isner's body, and approached the net. Isner made him play a touch half-volley, which he reached, but failed to bury. A mid-court ball sat up invitingly. Isner swivelled his torso, clasped the racket, and passed Mahut down the line with a punched backhand. Game, set, match. Isner celebrated appropriately. He collapsed.

Wimbledon 2010: longest ever tennis match put on hold at 59-59 - Telegraph Wimbledon Wimbledon 2010: longest ever tennis match put on hold at 59-59 History was made on one of Wimbledon’s outside courts on Wednesday when the longest tennis match on record was put on hold after 10 hours. Finding time: Nicolas Mahut pauses during his Wimbledon epic with John Isner Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 2 In the dark: John Isner and Nicolas Mahut talk to the Wimbledon match referee as darkness falls in SW19 Photo: Heathcliff O'Malley By Heidi Blake , and Caroline Gammell 7:30AM BST 24 Jun 2010 The epic contest between American John Isner, 25, and the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, 28, ran to 59 all in the fifth set before being called off due to darkness. They will resume their titanic battle this morning for a place in the second round.

The previous longest game in Grand Slam history, between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement, ran to six hours and 33 minutes at the French Open in Roland Garros in 2004. Both players yesterday smashed the record for the number of aces in a match, with the 6 foot 9 inch Isner on 98 and Mahut on 94. The players were visibly drained and at times struggled to walk as they played in searing heat and then shadows. Related Articles Isner v Mahut in numbers 24 Jun 2010 The fifth set of their marathon match on Court 18 lasted 426 minutes. They were cheered on by crowds of spectators who were lined six deep around the court. At one point an exhausted Isner, the 23 seed, shrugged his shoulders and mouthed “What am I supposed to do?” at his coach. Both scoreboards on the court blanked out as the players chalked up 46-47 games, seemingly unable to cope with the gargantuan score.

As the competitors fought for every point, scores of people peered over from the broadcasting area, as the nail-biting contest drew spectators away from Roger Federer’s clash with Ilija Bozoljac on Court 1. The appreciative crowd cheered, chanted and started Mexican waves, rising to their feet for a prolonged standing ovation when the score reached 50-50 in the fading light. Other players gathered in locker rooms to watch, while Gael Monfils, who earlier defeated the Slovakian Karol Beck 3-1, came down to courtside to support his fellow Frenchman. Serbian Novak Djokovic, who earlier defeated American Taylor Dent in straight sets, said: “Everyone is watching it in the locker rooms everywhere. “I am amazed that they can both hold their serves comfortably for the whole day.” Andy Murray, the only British player in the second round, said: “This is why tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world, this will never ever be matched again”. An exhausted Mahut, ranked 148 in the world, eventually appealed to the referee to a call a halt to the match due to poor light. “I want to play, but what’s the point?

I can’t see the ball,” he said. Isner replied: “Are you kidding me?” The umpire stopped the match despite deafening chants of “We want more” from the crowd. The first-round tussle was halted due to darkness at two sets all at around 9pm on Tuesday. It resumed at around 2pm on Wednesday, and ran to 9.15pm. The players will meet again tomorrow morning. The winner will face Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker, who yesterday won 16-14 in his final set against Santiago Giraldo, in the second round on Friday morning. Croatian Ivo Karlovic previously held the record for the highest number of aces in a match, having served 51 in a defeat to Italian Daniele Bracciali in 2005. As well as playing the longest match in tennis history, the players broke a slew of records including most games in a set, most games in a match and most aces served in a match. But not everyone was impressed by the marathon struggle.

Doubles player Jamie Murray, who was due on court afterwards, voiced his displeasure on the microblogging website Twitter: “Shambles of a match on court 18!!!! Hurry up and finish guys!” Laura Robson, the British 16-year-old who crashed out in the first round on Monday, tweeted: “55-55, seriously?! Enough is enough ... Bring in the tiebreak”. One spectator shouted: “Get a move on guys, I’ve only got a babysitter till six”. The previous longest game at the All England Club was recorded in 1989 when Greg Holmes and Terry Witsken were on court for five hours 28 minutes.

June 24, 2010: Isner and Mahut serve up the longest tennis match ever at a weary Wimbledon - BT June 24, 2010: Isner and Mahut serve up the longest tennis match ever at a weary Wimbledon After 11 hours, five minutes, 183 games, 216 aces, 980 points and a fifth set spread over three days, Wimbledon’s longest ever tennis match finally had a winner… Print this story American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, who had already comfortably broken the record for the longest professional tennis match in history, finally ended their mammoth contest after a total of 11 hours and five minutes on this day in 2010. The 6’9” Isner, who hit a total of 112 aces during the course of the match – itself a world record – finally prevailed to take the first round tie 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68, sending a passing shot by Mahut’s forehand to win the gruelling encounter. The match had started two days earlier.

Play had been suspended before the start of the fifth and final set – which, as in three of the four grand slam tournaments, is played without going to a tie-break - due to fading light. Play resumed at 2.05pm the following day; by 5.45pm the record for longest match had been broken. The light faded again, and so play was suspended at 9.09pm – despite the crowd’s chants of “We want more! We want more!” - with the final set tied at 59 games all. Neither man had slept more than a few hours the night before their third day of play began at 3.40pm. Court 18 had rarely been so packed, or so full of anticipation, as the match continued with both holding their service until the set’s 138th game. At 15-15 Mahut netted a straightforward drop shot with Isner behind the baseline, seemingly at his mercy. The American took full advantage with two forehand passes to seal an epic triumph on his fifth match point, at 4.47pm.

In recognition of their record-breaking efforts the weary players were honoured with crystal bowl and champagne flutes by the All England Club. Though defeated, Mahut remained gracious, saying: "It was really an honour to play the greatest match ever at the greatest place for tennis.” Do you remember the Isner-Mahut marathon match? Do you think a fifth set tie-break should be introduced at Wimbledon? Let us know in the Comments section below. The Longest Match – Did you know? Mahut was a qualifier for Wimbledon 2010 – he had already played and won three matches before the epic first round tie with Isner, including a victory over Alex Bogdanovic that had included a set of 46 games. The court 18 scoreboard was tested to the limit by the length of the match; it stuck while registering the score as 47-47 in the final set, then later went dark. Both players were having to cope with cramping by the end of the second day’s play, and both would have ice baths after leaving court. Isner reported that he was so hungry, he could have “eaten 12 Big Macs”.

The match was four hours and 32 minutes longer than the previous longest-ever match, the first round tie between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clément at the 2004 French Open. That had lasted six hours and 33 minutes. The tie also broke records for the longest set, most games in a set (138), most games in a match (183), total aces served (216 including 103 by the defeated Mahut), most points won in a match by one player (Mahut's 491 edging Isner's 489), and most points played overall (980). When Serena Williams had won the Wimbledon singles title in 2009, she spent less time on court in the whole tournament that Isner and Mahut did in this single match. Poor Mahut had to go back on court to commence his doubles match partnering Arnaud Clément later that day. The following day, Isner lost to Thiemo De Bakker 0–6, 3–6, 2–6 in 74 minutes - the shortest men's match in the tournament to that point – and failed to serve a single ace.

On the next two occasions Isner and Mahut met, both in 2011 (including once again in the first round of that year’s Wimbledon), the American won in straight sets. A plaque entitled ‘The Longest Match’ now hangs outside Court 18 and bears the score and duration of the encounter. John Isner wins marathon match with Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon | Sport | The Guardian John Isner wins marathon match with Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon • Isner wins 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 • First-round match lasted 11 hours five minutes John Isner is overcome by emotion after defeating Nicolas Mahut in the longest ever professional tennis match.

Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters Press Association Thursday 24 June 2010 12.06 EDT First published on Thursday 24 June 2010 12.06 EDT Close This article is 6 years old John Isner finally brought an end to the longest match in tennis history today as he broke the serve of Nicolas Mahut to secure a 70-68 victory in the deciding set of their first-round Wimbledon encounter. After 11 hours and five minutes on Court 18 and with a host of records having been broken, the 23rd seed found two crucial winners to break the resistance of the Frenchman in the 138th game of a remarkable set. The pair first walked on court on Tuesday, and Isner – who hit 112 aces in the match – secured a 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-3), 70-68 triumph to bring the curtain down on one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the All England Club.

Upon the completion of the match - and a final set that lasted eight hours and 11 minutes - the All England Club announced the two players and match umpire were to be presented with awards to mark their achievement. Both players appeared to be spent forces at the end of the gruelling encounter, but received their mementoes with good grace before being asked to reflect on the match. Isner said of his vanquished opponent: "The guy's an absolute warrior. It stinks someone had to lose. To share this with him was an absolute honour. Maybe we'll meet again somewhere down the road and it won't be 70-68." Mahut was gracious in defeat, admitting that despite the gruelling nature of the contest it had been a tussle savoured by both men. "At this moment I'm just really thankful. It was amazing today," Mahut said. "John deserved to win. He served unbelievable, he's a champion. It was really an honour to play the greatest match ever at the greatest place for tennis.

It was very long but I think we both enjoyed it." John Isner finally managed to break down his opponent and win the longest match in history Published: 24 Jun 2010 Kevin Mitchell: Has anyone ever seen anything to match the 10-hour epic for its sheer quality of weirdness? Published: 23 Jun 2010 Join Paolo Bandini for news, results, gossip and much more from SW19 Published: 24 Jun 2010 Andy Murray reached the third round at Wimbledon with a ruthless three-sets victory over Jarkko Nieminen Published: 24 Jun 2010 Wimbledon crowd sees the longest tennis match ever – and it's still going | Sport | The Guardian Wimbledon Wimbledon crowd sees the longest tennis match ever – and it's still going Isner and Mahut remain tied on 59 games all in the fifth set of the longest tennis match ever played, in first round at Wimbledon Yes, that really is the score … Isner and Mahut will continue today at 59-59 (games, that is) in the final set.

Photograph: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Wednesday 23 June 2010 19.15 EDT First published on Wednesday 23 June 2010 19.15 EDT Close This article is 6 years old Somewhere around five hours into the final set of the longest tennis match ever seen in the professional game, with an increasingly sunburned crowd leaning on the metal barriers of court 18 for support, Sue Barker summed up the mood for TV viewers: "Is this match ever going to end?" Apparently not, it seemed. Last night, France's Nicolas Mahut and John Isner from the US, two of the lesser known names on the men's singles circuit, remained deadlocked on two sets each and both with 59 games in the longest fifth set ever, of the longest tennis match ever. It was Mahut who finally implored the officials to take the players off shortly after 9pm as he could no longer clearly see the ball. The match had lasted exactly 10 hours at close of play, according to official statistics, with the pair holding their serves for 118 games before the end.

They had battled through more than seven hours alone, with one of the scoreboards giving up, forcing them to carry on with a blank screen. Fans were happy they had brought a packed lunch, but some worried about the late trip home. "I'm glad I brought sandwiches with me - it's tiring just watching," said Mark Gerrard, 41, from Bournemouth, who had been there since 5pm. But spectators still chanted, "We want more", as they gave the players a standing ovation. "Nothing like this will happen again. Ever," vowed Isner as he left the court. "He was serving fantastic, I was serving fantastic. I would love to see the stats." Even before the pair began warming up shortly after lunch yesterday they had already played out something of an epic, which ended on Tuesday evening tied at two sets each following, even then, 45 games of thunderous tennis. As the players dragged themselves across the court with increasingly leaden feet following a day in which temperatures reached 28 degrees, the TV commentators began to sound worried. "Something surely has to give?" Boris Becker asked. Federer described the match as "absolutely amazing".

"In a way, I wish I was them; in some ways I wish I wasn't them," he admitted. Andy Murray was stunned by the tussle. "This is why tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world, this will never ever be matched again," he Tweeted. The winner is due on court for his second round match later today, presuming a conclusion is eventually reached. The loser will have to be consoled with a cheque for £11,250, and maybe immortality as a future Trivial Pursuit question.

Question: Who lost the longest ever tennis match at Wimbledon (in 2010)?
Answer: Nicolas Mahut