John Isner VS Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon 2010: The Longest Match in Tennis History

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut’s longest match in tennis history in Wimbledon 2010 First Round match is officially recognized as the world record for the longest match that took 11 hours and 5 minutes to complete. The Epic Match will be remembered for ages as a record-breaking tennis match that will be etched in the history of Tennis. In this article, TennisKhelo takes a look back at the longest tennis match in history. 

The Longest Match in Tennis History in Wimbledon 2010

Beginning of the Endless Tennis Match

Imagine, USA’s John Isner and France’s Nicolas Mahut received their match in Court No. 18 in the first round of 2010 Wimbledon and could never have dreamed how long they would have to play their duel. This famous Tennis Match was one of the most iconic tennis moments in Wimbledon history. 

The First Day of the Match

It began on June 22 on Tuesday and concluded on June 24 on Thursday. The first day of the match was quite a tense match with inc logo involving active engagement of the two players. Seeded number 23, Isner was two sets to one down but battled on to make the match go the distance. Shortly thereafter, the chair umpire was compelled to stop play because of poor light though weather conditions were perfect. The match that if played for over three hours on Tuesday had to be abandoned just before the commencement of the fifth set at around 9:10 pm local time.

The Tiebreaker

Before, the specific format for the decider-set tiebreak was not there though such a format now exists. Mahut’s serve and volley approached irritated Isner #END.pitched, and at one point, the American led 33/32 in the fifth. The American thought that he would be able to triumphantly close the long-lasting match and win when he was two points away from the victory but the French qualifier did not agree with that.

The Final Confrontation

This infuriated Mahut and he leveled the scores to 33-33. Children and adults came in multitudes as the number surged to 99 games, but then the electronic scoreboard could no longer go on, literally it stopped working. The worst and losing player of the den closed with Mahut on his serve, got the match to fifty-fifty with fifty games in the fifth set.

The Victory

Mahut kept playing in the match to win a reduced fifth set, the 118th game tying at 59 all before requesting for the play to stop because of darkness this request was granted. The match was still on, at the end of the second day it had exceeded 10 hours and thereby surpassing the earlier record of the longest tennis match ever played out in French open 2004 where Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clément played for 6 hours and 33 minutes in the first round itself.

John Isner was the man to finally break John Mahut in the 3rd set 138th game and thus winning the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-3), 70-68. The American’s immeasurable joy on clinching a victory was well understandable when he threw his racquet across the grass court and fell on the floor after match-point.

The Impact

The fifth set was a particularly protracted one lasting over eight hours and the match, including various sets, was a whopping 11 hours and 5 minutes long. Again, it was during the 2018 Wimbledon’s semi-final match where Isner played another marathon match against South African Kevin Anderson that lost the match 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-7(9), 6-4, 26-24 that the rule change was made to introduce the decision making set tiebreaker at the grass major provided the score got to 12-12.

Originally, there were no more than 12 points allowed to complete a match, although since 2022 all the Grand Slams introduced a 10-point tiebreak if the score in the final set has been 6-6.

Other Longest Tennis Matches in Tennis History

The longest tennis match ever played was between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, lasting 11 hours and 5 minutes. Isner also features in the list of top 10 longest matches, including a 2018 Wimbledon semi-final match that lasted 6 hours and 36 minutes. The longest women’s singles match was 6 hours and 31 minutes, while the longest doubles match was 7 hours and 2 minutes, played between the Czech Republic and Switzerland in the 2013 Davis Cup.

TennisKhelo reminds readers that such historic matches will always be remembered. As the match progressed, Tennis Facts took to the middle, revealing that Isner was down two sets to one but fought through the match with sheer athleticism and skill that wowed the crowd, and Tennis News reported that it was a tournament for the ages. Ultimately, it was Isner who triumphed, but Latest Tennis News promised they would soon be forgotten.