world record

By Cynthia Lum

Up until about 3 PM I was having a pretty normal day. I stopped in at my favorite Italian deli in Southfields for cappuccino and crusty Italian bread with Italian Marmellata Di Ciliegie or Cherry Marmalade  Delicious.  Then I headed up the hill to the site, checked my e-mail, finished up a little editing from yesterday and proceeded to shoot some photos. I was keeping an eye out for the finish of the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut match which was suspended yesterday with a tie of two sets each 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-7.

Around 2 PM, I got involved in sending some photos that a magazine in Croatia requested, and it took a lot longer than I expected, I hadn’t had lunch and was starving so looked up to check the score on Isner’s match, and saw that it was 14-all in the fifth! OMG! Wondering how in the world I lost track and it got to that score, I grabbed my camera and RAN to court 18. All the way there, I kept kicking myself for not paying better attention and worrying that I would miss match point.

Needless to say, I didn’t need to run, didn’t need to worry, match point won’t be played until tomorrow. So far, the fifth set has run 7 hours and 6 minutes. Yes SEVEN hours for one set and they aren’t finished.  The score is 59-59. When Isner won the game at 18 all to go up 19-18, we turned to one another and said, wow, it’s going to be 20 something before they finish.

If I’d known that they were out to set a world record, I would have brought lunch, some drinks, maybe a book and a jacket – it was freezing by the time they called the match a little after 9PM.  The previous longest tennis match was six hours and 33 minutes.

UNBELIEVABLE and you have to write that in capital letters.  I felt like I was in the twilight zone, with a never-ending match going on while the rest of the world proceeds normally. People aging, newborns growing, fabulous space age inventions happening, but here at Wimbledon this tennis match just kept going, and going and going, like that battery advertisement.  Neither of the players aging or changing. Isner keeps hitting aces, going up one game, and Mahut keeps evening the score.  Neither player ever stops to eat or sleep.  They just keep playing this match for eternity.  So now you see, tennis has driven me quite mad.
At around 22 all, Isner started dragging around the court like a twelve-year-old boy who has just been told that he has to put on his Sunday best and go to ballroom dancing class with his hated, taller than him, thirteen year old girl (ugh) cousin.  At times, it looked as though he wasn’t even trying to break Mahut, but then when it was his serve, he turned up the heat and hit aces.  Mahut, on the other hand looked pretty fit skipping and jogging to change ends, while the American looked as though he could barely put one foot in front of the other.  Mahut, however did have to call for pain killers, and the trainer, but still looked a lot better than Isner and continued ripping cross-court backhand’s and aces that Isner wasn’t even trying to go for.

Big John kept mumbling about not being able to read Niko’s serve. At one point, when Mahut hit an ace at 15-30, I could clearly read his lips through my 300 millimeter lens saying, “You’re %$#@ ing killing me”.
The Frenchman, however, was in better humor, leaning on the net and laughing after Isner hit an amazing sharply-angled vollley.

There were only twelve photographers allowed on court and at least a dozen waiting outside hoping someone would leave… Are they kidding?  No one is giving up their seat for love or money. Well, maybe for money. Photographers are a mercenary lot.  Everyone else was lining the fenced grass area above the court.  There were at least fifty photographers up there and hundreds of fans.

The photographers on the bench were commenting that they felt Isner’s pain.  The light was going, we were all stressing out about getting a decent match point shot. It was getting cold and many of us were starving, having forgone lunch for this match. The guy next to me was hoping that they would call the match because his batterys were going dead and he didn’t have a spare with him.

At 59-all he got his wish.  The fans were chanting “We want more” but after speaking to the players, the referee called for a suspension.

They will be the third match on court 18 tomorrow and it should be a great show.

Interested in stats?  Let me throw a few at you.  Isner hit 98 aces in the match, 70 of them in the fifth set,  Mahut was not far behind with 94 and 68.  The previous longest match consisted of 112 games. The fifth set alone in the Isner-Mahut match is currently 118 and they are not finished.  Yes, you read that correctly, the fifth set already has more games the longest match in history.

One last stat.. yours truly was on this match for SIX hours, and I’m still not finished either!

– Cynthia

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Cynthia Lum is one of the world’s most celebrated sports photographers and has traveled the world covering all the major tennis events for 18 years. In addition to tennis she is currently shooting horse racing, golf, surfing, and beach volleyball.  Visit her on-line photo archive at www.cynthialum.com where her photos are for sale for professional and personal use. She is available for hire for corporate and editorial clients. She is based in Hermosa Beach, Calif.