American Isner Finally Knocks Off Mahut at Wimbledon in Historic Match
June 24, 2010 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Eleven hours on-court and a little over three days later, and finally we have a winner in the longest match in tennis history. American John Isner finally defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth and final set at Wimbledon. The fifth set alone lasted eight hours, 11 min., and the game had to be postponed due to darkness two days in a row. The match nearly doubled the previous record for longest match, which was six hours and 33 min.
Over the course of the match, Isner hit 112 aces and Mahut countered with 103 of his own. Both destroyed the previous record of 78.
In the dramatic and long expected conclusion Thursday morning, which began tied at 59, both players continued to serve huge. The match continued for about an hour longer and Mahut looked like he had the edge as Isner appeared exhausted, but it was Isner who finally broke Mahut’s serve, which gave him the victory, by a final line of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68.
That’s a score that we will not see again for a long long time, if ever.
