From 22 to 24 June 2010, a first-round match at the men's singles tournament of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships was contested between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. Isner, seeded 23rd, defeated Mahut, a qualifier, 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68, in 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days. It was the longest tennis match in professional history. 183 games were played, which were also the most in a single match.
The match began at 6:13 pm on Tuesday, on Court 18 at Wimbledon. At , play was suspended after the fourth set due to daylight. It resumed on Wednesday, 23 June, at , with the start of the fifth set. The record for longest match was broken at . Play was suspended again at , when the score was tied 59–59, before resuming at on Thursday, 24 June. At , the match concluded in Isner's victory. The final set took 8 hours, 11 minutes and was longer than the previous sets combined. Both players broke numerous Wimbledon and tennis records, including each serving over 100 aces, with the match being referred to as "the endless match".
Following a six-hour semifinal match between Kevin Anderson and Isner at the men's singles semifinals, the 2019 tournament introduced a tie break when the score in the fifth set (third set for women's matches) reaches 12–12. Starting in 2022, a 10-point tie break at 6–6 in the final set was trialled in all Grand Slam matches.
Background The match took place during the 2010 edition of the 13-day Wimbledon Championships, held every June and July. Mahut, who was not ranked high enough to qualify for the tournament automatically, earned his place by winning in the qualifying pre-tournament, where he was seeded 27th. He played three qualification rounds, beating Frank Dancevic 6–3, 6–0, in the first round, then Alex Bogdanovic 3–6, 6–3, 24–22, and finally Stefan Koubek in five sets, 6–7(8), 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4.
Having played through the qualifying stage, Mahut was drawn against Isner in the first round of the Men's Singles. Their match was scheduled for Court 18, one of the larger outer courts at Wimbledon.
Match
Details
The match started on the tournament's second day, 22 June. As in all men's Grand Slam matches, the match was played as best of five sets. In the first four sets of a match, a tiebreaker is used to decide a tied set, but in 2010 this did not apply in the fifth set except at the US Open. Thus, in the event of a tie in the fifth set, the players would continue to play the set until one of them led by two games.
The first four sets passed without significant incident. Isner won the first set 6–4, breaking Mahut's serve in the ninth game of the set after Mahut had twice double faulted. Mahut took the second set 6–3, having broken Isner's serve to love in the second game of the set. The third and fourth sets had no breaks of serve and were both decided by tiebreaks, with Mahut winning the third set tiebreak 9–7, and Isner winning the fourth set tiebreak 7–3, leaving the score at two sets each. At the end of the fourth set, the match was halted due to darkness.
Resuming on , it soon became the longest match ever. Isner failed to convert four match points on this day, the first when Mahut was serving at 9–10, the second and third when Mahut was serving at 32–33, and the fourth in the dramatic last game that they played at 58–59 on , with Mahut initially serving up 40–15 for the hold. Mahut also failed to convert two break points on Isner's serve, at 50–50. The match was suspended for a second time because of darkness on the evening of at 59–59 in the fifth set despite chants of "We want more, we want more" from the spectators.
Isner drank a "recovery shake" and took an ice bath. Fellow American Andy Roddick brought takeaway food for him and his coach, including "three boxes of pizza, all sorts of chicken and mashed potatoes"; Isner said later that he was so hungry he "could have eaten 12 Big Macs", but reported that drinking coconut water helped him rehydrate and avoid the cramping that he had experienced in the past.Pucin, Diane. "Wimbledon: No doubles for John Isner but props for coconut water" Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2010. He slept for less than four hours before rising. Mahut also slept for only a few hours, and had a cold bath and a massage.Atkin, Ronald. "Marathon man Isner reveals Roddick's pizza role " wimbledon.org, 24 June 2010. The next morning, the BBC reported that Mahut had been practising and Andy Murray informed them that Isner had been running on a treadmill before play resumed.
The match was resumed on , and both players continued to dominate their service games. With Isner serving at 68–68, Mahut went up 0–30, but Isner won 4 points in a row to hold serve. At 68–69, with Mahut serving at 15–15, Mahut netted a drop shot that would likely have won the point. Isner, far back in the court at the time, later said that he would not have had the energy to chase after that shot. At 30–30, Isner passed Mahut at the net with a difficult inside-out forehand from the middle of the court that landed just inside the line. This brought up Isner's fifth match point (his first on 24 June) and his 14th break point of the match, which Isner converted with a down-the-line backhand passing shot. Thus, after 67 minutes of play on the third day of the match, Isner won the deciding final set, 70–68. The entire match over the 3 days lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. This new world record for the longest match ever was 4 hours and 32 minutes longer than the previous record, the first-round match between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clément at the 2004 French Open, which had lasted 6 hours, 33 minutes.
Officials
The chair umpire throughout the match was the Swedish official Mohamed Lahyani. Lahyani said afterwards that he was so "gripped by the amazing match" that his concentration stayed solid and he did not think about eating or going to the toilet. On the second day of the match, two groups of 14 linespeople and four groups of 28 ballboys and ballgirls were used in a rotation. At the end of the match, Lahyani announced the score incorrectly, accidentally switching the scores of the two tie-break sets.
Failing scoreboard On the second day of play, the courtside scoreboard stood still at 47–47 and later went dark. IBM programmers said it was only programmed to go to 47–47 but would be fixed by the next day. The online scoreboard at the official website lasted slightly longer; it was reset at 50–50. Users were asked to "please add 50 to the Isner/Mahut game score". An IBM programmer worked on a hotfix for the scoring system until to accommodate the match's scores for the next day, although it would have again malfunctioned had the match gone beyond 25 more games.Martin, John. "Scoreboard tuneup" The New York Times, 2010.
Aftermath
Special recognition
Immediately after the match, both players and the umpire were presented with a crystal bowl and champagne flutes by Tim Henman and Ann Haydon-Jones on behalf of the All England Club, as special recognition of the match. The players were then interviewed on court by John Inverdale, before a photocall for the press alongside one of the two Court 18 scoreboards showing the score. Mahut subsequently donated memorabilia from the match for display at the International Tennis Hall of Fame's Museum in Newport, Rhode Island."Mahut Receives Wild Card to Compete in Newport". ATP World Tour. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
On 14 July, Isner and Mahut were jointly awarded the 2010 ESPY Award for "Best Record-Breaking Performance", beating fellow nominees Roger Federer and Usain Bolt. Isner accepted the award in Los Angeles on behalf of both men."Isner & Mahut Win ESPY Award For Best Record-Breaking Performance". ATP World Tour. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010. In addition, the AELTC placed a plaque commemorating the match at Court 18.
Time named this match one of the Top 10 Sports Moments of 2010.
Players' subsequent schedules As the winner, Isner advanced to the second round where, on the day following the conclusion of his match with Mahut, he played Thiemo de Bakker on 25 June at on Court 5.Schedule of Play The match was originally scheduled for 24 June but was postponed due to the continuance of Isner's first-round match against Mahut. De Bakker also had a lengthy first-round match against Santiago Giraldo, winning by a score of 16–14 in the fifth set, but unlike Isner, he had a day off before his second-round match. Isner lost to De Bakker 0–6, 3–6, 2–6 in just 74 minutes. It was the shortest men's Wimbledon match at that point in 2010, and Isner failed to serve a single ace.Match Statistics, Thiemo De Bakker – John Isner . Isner was visibly exhausted and required medical treatment for neck and shoulder problems throughout the match.
Isner was also due to play a doubles match with his partner Sam Querrey on 24 June (against Michał Przysiężny and Dudi Sela), but it was postponed to 25 June. Isner's doubles match was tentatively scheduled as the second match of that day on Court 19 following another men's doubles match; however, they withdrew from the doubles because Isner had a blister on his toe. After being eliminated from the tournament, Isner said, "I'll watch sports, I'll take in the World Cup, I'll go fishing, I'll do whatever. Just anything away from the tennis court."
As for Mahut, his doubles match with partner Arnaud Clément against Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski started late in the evening on 24 June (also on Court 18); the match was suspended after Mahut and Clément had lost the first set. On 25 June, Mahut/Clément – Fleming/Skupski was scheduled as the fourth match on Court 18 because Clément had a third-round singles match on Centre Court against Roger Federer. Because the match between Daniel Brands and Victor Hănescu lasted almost 3 hours, 30 minutes and ended around 8:45 pm local time, the doubles match was postponed again; it was rescheduled as the first match on Court 14 on 26 June. On resumption, Fleming/Skupski defeated Mahut/Clément, 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 7–6.
The two next met at the 2011 Hopman Cup exhibition in Perth. Isner broke in the opening game to record a win in straight sets. They met again at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, again in the first round. The odds of the unseeded players meeting in another first round match was 1 in 142. Isner won "Isner–Mahut II" in straight sets (7–6, 6–2, 7–6), in 2 hours and 3 minutes.
Reaction Former players and commentators have called the match historic and unlikely to happen again; many also praised both participants. John McEnroe said, "This is the greatest advertisement for our sport. It makes me proud to be a part of it. We often don't get the respect we deserve in tennis for the athletic demands it places on players, but this should push that respect way up".
Other players, former players, officials, media commentators and fans also praised the behaviour of both players. Roger Federer said of the match, "It's so impressive to see. I mean, I was watching this. I don't know if I was crying or laughing. It was too much". Federer also added, "This is absolutely amazing. [...] This is beyond anything". Novak Djokovic extolled both players, saying, "You have to give them credit, both of them. Whoever wins today, I think both of them are winners".