In an absolutely astonishing result of chance, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, who last year played the epic 70-68 in the fifth-set, 11-hour first round match at Wimbledon have drawn each other AGAIN in the first round of 2011 Wimbledon.
Bud Collins, the world’s most famous tennis journalist and historian, reviews all the records set in last year’s epic in this excerpt below from his tennis encyclopedia and record book called THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, order it here: http://ow.ly/5k2Cr
The excerpt below includes Bud’s compilation of all the records set during the epic Isner-Mahut marathon and also the list of all of the longest matches of all-time.
For all the Wimbledon draws, go to www. Wimbledon.org.
John Isner’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(9-7), 7-6(7-3), 70-68 victory over Nicolas Mahut in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010 set the record for the longest ever tennis match in history in terms of number of games and duration.
The match stretched over three days, beginning at 6:08 pm on Tuesday, June 22 and was suspended due to darkness overnight at 9:03 pm at two-sets all. The match was resumed at 2:07 pm with the start of the fifth set on Wednesday, June 23 and was suspended again due to darkness 9:10 pm with the score at 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (9-7), 7-6 (7-3), 59-59. The match again resumed at 3:42 pm on Thursday, June 24 and was completed at 4:48 pm.
The match lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes and totaled 183 games. The final set alone lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes. In comparison, the fewest games played through seven rounds to win a major singles title in the Open era (since 1968) in men’s singles title was 147, set by Guillermo Vilas at the 1977 US Open.
On Wednesday, Isner missed four match points in the fifth set, one at 10-9, two at 33-32, and one at 59-58. There were 168 consecutive service holds until the final game. The last previous break of serve had been in the second game of the second set when Isner was broken at 0-1. Mohamed Lahyani of Sweden was the chair umpire for the entire duration of the match and did not take a bathroom break during play.
Records broken during the epic include the following;
Longest match in time: 11 hours, 5 minutes
Previous record: 6 hours, 33 minutes, Fabrice Santoro def. Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14, 2004 French Open first round
Longest match by games: 183
Previous record in singles: 126 games, Roger Taylor def. Wieslaw Gasiorek 27-29, 31-29, 6-4, King’s Cup, Warsaw, 1966
Previous record in doubles: 147 games, Dick Leach and Dick Dell def. Len Schloss and Tom Mozur, 3-6, 49-47, 22-20, Newport Invitational second round, 1967
Longest set in time: 8:11
Longest set by games: 138
Previous record: 96 games, Dick Leach and Dick Dell def. Len Schloss and Tom Mozur, 3-6, 49-47, 22-20, Newport Invitational second round, 1967
Most aces by player in a match: Isner: 113
Previous record: 78 aces, Ivo Karlovic, 2009 Davis Cup semifinal match vs. Radek Stepanek
Most aces overall in a match: 216 (Isner 113, Mahut 103)
Previous record: 96 aces, Ivo Karlovic (78 aces) and Radek Stepanek (18 aces) Davis Cup semifinal, 2009
Longest Matches of All-Time
Men’s Singles
11:05 John Isner d. Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68,
2010 Wimbledon first round
6:33 Fabrice Santoro d. Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6,
16-14, 2004 French Open first round
6:22 John McEnroe d. Mats Wilander 9-7, 6-2, 15-17, 3-6, 8-6, 5th
rubber, Davis Cup Quarterfinal, St. Louis, Mo, 1982