John Isner-Nicolas Mahut Wimbledon Match Smashes Records

Tennis has never seen anything like this. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut will finish battling out in the longest match in Open Era tennis history on Thursday. All sorts of records were broken on Court 18 at Wimbledon in what is an unfathomable match, spanning two days and now going on three.

The match resumed Wednesday at 2:04 p.m. (local time) and set the longest-match record at 5:45 p.m., long before play was finally again suspended at 9:10 p.m.

History is being made in this epic match for the ages. Play will pick up again Thursday with both players knotted up at 59-59 in the fifth set. The 23rd-seeded Isner took the fourth set on Tuesday before play was suspended at 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3). It is now 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 59-59.

On Tuesday immediately following the completion of the fourth set, play was stopped at approximately 9:07 p.m. local time. Isner won the fourth set in a tiebreak to level his match at two sets apiece. Despite both players pleading to continue play, the referee made the final decision to suspend play due to darkness, to be continued Wednesday. After battling it out for 118 games Wednesday, the players will return all square on Thursday. Isner will begin serving after holding 76 consecutive service games. Mahut has held 78 straight.

The fifth set alone has taken more time than any completed match in the history of Open Era tennis, at seven hours and six minutes long.

"Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever," Isner said. "I don't know what to say. He's serving fantastic, I'm serving fantastic, and that's really all there is to it."

Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement had previously held the record for the longest match in Open Era history by playing a six-hour, 33-minute contest over two days at the 2004 French Open. Santoro defeated Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14 at Roland Garros that year.

The first-round contest between Isner and Mahut at Wimbledon is already the longest match ever, by time and games, in the Open Era. It's stretched a total of ten hours and endured 163 games.

The total of 163 games has already passed the previous Open Era record of 112 games that Pancho Gonzalez needed to defeat Charlie Pasarell at Wimbledon in 1969. It also holds the record for most games in a set at 118 in the fifth.

The 6-foot-9 Isner has served an Open Era record 98 aces.



Share The match also has produced a record 193 combined aces, as Mahut has 95 of his own.

Both players outlasted the on-court scoreboards that blew out at Wimbledon. The boards froze when the players were tied at 47 games in the fifth set. Eventually both scoreboards had to be completely erased.

Isner served first, and consequently Mahut had to play one game behind when serving the entire fifth set. Both players held serve throughout the set and there were few rallies lasting very long. Both players dominated their service games in the fifth.

Isner faced double break point in the 101st game and somehow rocketed two first serves to put the game into deuce. He won four straight points with three powerful serves and one spectacular second serve to go up 51-50 after being down 15-40 in the game.

Mahut was then down 0-30 in the 108th game, but finished the service game strong with four straight points to level at 54 games a piece.

In the 115th game, Isner won all four points on his serve, rocking Mahut with a cross-court forehand to go up 58-57. Mahut then held serve to level the match at 58. It was the 77th consecutive service game Mahut held. Both players decided to take a bathroom break immediately after. It was amazing both players lasted 116 games before taking their first break of any kind during the fifth set.

In the 118th game, Isner had a fourth match point but Mahut managed to fight the American off as he served up an ace and put the match back at deuce. Mahut then won the 118th game as the players and referee debated what to do. The players were in the same exact position as yesterday. On Wednesday night, however, it was 118 games later. Isner's coach kept calling the match surreal after the referee decided to continue play tomorrow.

Prior to the match, the two only faced each other one time. Mahut defeated Isner 7-5, 6-4 at Queen's Club in 2008.

Mahut's journey into Wimbledon was almost as breathtaking as today's match. In his second round of Wimbledon qualifications, he defeated Alex Bogdanovic 3-6, 6-3, 24-22. Mahut then amazingly returned two days later to earn his place at Wimbledon by qualifying in a third-round thriller against Stefan Koubek, rallying from two sets down just for a place in the main field at the All England Club.

The match has lasted longer than any Major League Baseball game ever played. The White Sox played the Brewers in an eight-hour, six-minute contest that spanned 25 innings in 1984.

While the match was still in progress, Venus Williams summed it up best at her post-match press conference. "It's amazing," Venus said. "It's a marathon, it's longer than a marathon."