The longest tennis match in history was nothing short of extraordinary. The towering and lanky John Isner first came up against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the Round of 32 at the Cinch Championships in 2008. Mahut won in straight sets in a game that lasted only 72 minutes.
A few years later in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010, Isner would get his revenge following a win that took 11 hours and 5 minutes, more than four hours longer than the next longest tennis match in history.
The game started on the 22nd of June. It finished on the 24th, three days later. 183 games in total. And the fifth and final set alone lasted for 8 hours and 11 minutes. Even the final set itself was longer than the second longest tennis match of all time.
13 years ago today, at the exact time of this tweet, Isner-Mahut concluded
‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same’ pic.twitter.com/ponyXYvA70
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) June 24, 2023
Both Isner and Mahut hold a record that’s unlikely to ever be beaten. Wimbledon and the Australian Open adopted the final set tie-break in 2019, a system the US Open has had in place since 1970. The French Open aligned with the rest of the Grand Slams in 2022.
Unfortunately that means we’re never going to see an epic encounter to match that of Isner and Mahut. So insane was the physical toll on both players’ bodies, it was the equivalent of running two marathons.
Not surprisingly, Isner ran out of juice by the time he had to back up his three-day effort the very next day against the unseeded Thiemo de Bakker losing in straight sets.
Why did Isner vs. Mahut go for so long?
Both players were dominant on their serve and break points were few and far between, especially in the final set. At one point there were about 40 games between break points. Mahut also saved four match points and showed the same determination and endurance from his second round qualifying match against Alex Bogdanovic where he won the fifth set 24-22.
The match between Isner and Mahut is forever immortalised and a plaque was installed at Wimbledon’s Court 18 to commemorate the pair. Let’s not forget umpire Mohamed Lahyani who spent his entire time presiding over the match from his chair. He received a Wimbledon tie, cufflinks and a crystal bowl to celebrate the match.
The Isner and Mahut longest match plaque<3 pic.twitter.com/C51gnVx0
— Nicolas Mahut (@NicolasMahutFan) July 1, 2012
Isner and Mahut would face off in another two encounters during their careers. Sensationally they were drawn against each other the following year at Wimbledon, with Isner defeating Mahut in straight sets in just over two hours. Their final meeting was in 2012 at Newport with Isner again prevailing in straight sets in 78 minutes.
By the time Mahut retired in 2019 he had totalled prize money of just over $12.5 million. Isner would follow suit in 2023 and had collected over $22 million.
And although the careers of both players has since ended, their legacy left behind with the longest tennis match in history will forever remain. An incredible show of extraordinary willpower, determination and endurance to battle it out for 11 hours and 5 minutes.
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