Isner vs Mahut marathon match heads into third day
John Isner and Nicolas Mahut will resume what has become more of an endurance test than a tennis match today, 10 hours after the match first started.
While picking a winner at this stage of proceedings is nigh on impossible, whatever the result, both men have written themselves into the record books as a result of this one.
John Isner’s 98 aces have broken the previous mark of 78 aces set by Ivo Karlovic; Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement’s previous record of six hours and 33 minutes on court for a tennis match set at the French Open in 2004 has been obliterated.
And it’s not just the fans who are glued to their TVs and their seats out on court 18 watching it, with Novak Djokovic telling reporters yesterday that “everybody's watching it in the locker rooms, everywhere.”
“That's the longest match by far any tournament, any Grand Slam. Of course, two big servers,” the third seed said, no doubt happy his second round match was completed in three relatively straightforward sets.
By contrast, Isner and Mahut haven’t even finished their first round match yet, after starting the match on Tuesday.
Even Roger Federer, who wrote his name into the record books as the most successful Grand Slam player in men’s tennis when he won the Wimbledon final last year, seems to be slightly envious of the history the big-serving pair are making in the epic match.
“In a way, I wish I was them, in some ways I wish I wasn't them,” Federer said after his four-set second round match. “So this is a very special match. I hope somehow this is going to end. I don't know. They'll be fresh again tomorrow, I guess...it's unbelievable. I don't know what to say.
“Obviously once it's 50 All, you're like, ‘I don't want to lose this match anymore after putting in a heroic effort already’. Unfortunately there's going to be a loser. But I think both will come out as winners, that's for sure.”
The final match report is available http://www.senore.com/Isner-defeats-Mahut-in-longest-tennis-match-in-history-a13635.
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