Wimbledon 2010: Records Smashed on Day 3 as Isner and Mahut Engaged in 10 Hour Battle
10 hours; that is the time it takes to get from San Francisco to London. However, it’s not airline scheduling being discussed in this article, but an epic marathon between two gladiators that took the same amount of time and broke all records in tennis’s history. It was a match that began under the bright, shining sky with no shadows, to points being played under the moonlight. All other courts had finished their three scheduled matches, but Court 18 only saw one match and that too without a conclusion. When spectators walked into Court 18 this morning, little did they realise that they would be watching history in the making. It is a record that no one in the near future can even come close to breaking.
Twenty three seed John Isner from America came out this morning to face Frenchman Nicholas Mahut. For both players, it was a routine encounter that would need a spirited performance. The last time these two players met was at Queens in 2008, when the game only lasted seventy two minutes. Mahut came out on top 7-5, 6-4. This time around, seventy two minutes was probably just the time spent on one set.
The six foot nine inch American started off the proceedings taking the first set 6-4. The Frenchman then came from behind and swept the next two sets 6-3, 7-6. The clock behind the players was already ticking. Isner, sensing danger, sharpened his serve even more and picked up the fourth set 7-6. The quality of tennis in this game was obvious from the fact that both players were on an equal footing, each not letting the other take any undue advantage or playing any loose shot to let the other opponent go on top. The only time Isner’s strong serve was broken was in the second set, which he eventually lost. After that, it was game on and he lost the third set in a tie break. Similarly, Mahut was not giving up either, and the fourth set was on serve. The tie break was the decider, as Isner took the game to the ultimate fifth set, which mesmerized the tennis world.
The fifth set was on serve; by this time, the sun had begun to set and evening had set in. No player knew the length that they would have to go to in order to come out on top. The serves of both players got sharper in the final deciding set and the volleying more accurate. When the games were tied at six all, both Mahut and Isner knew they would have to go up a break to decide the match, as there is no tie break allowed in the final set. Isner had a slight advantage as he was the first one to serve, but Mahut never allowed the pressure to get the better of him. Isner had four match points on Mahut’s serves, but Mahut was never given such a chance. Isner’s first chance was when the games were on 10-9; two more chances came his way: when the score-line was 33-32, and finally in the last game before the match was called off. Without succumbing to pressure, Mahut slammed his 95th ace to get out of trouble. Isner seemed very sluggish towards the end, barely moving across the court, but still managed to win the points. With the light fading, Mahut went up to the chair umpire to call off the game, much to Isner’s dismay. Isner wanted to play on and have the game decided, but that was not the case. Poor light forced the referee to take the decision to have both men come out again and battle it out to decide their fate.
10 hours and counting. This has become the longest match in the history of tennis, with the last record holders being Arnaud Clement and Fabrice Santoro at the French Open; the total match time then was 6 hours and 33 minutes. That is not all, as more records were broken during the match: Isner’s 98 aces breaching Ivo Karlovic’s 78 during a Davis Cup tie in 2009. The total combined aces of both players, standing at 193, also broke Karlovic and Stepanek’s record.
When the match was called off, the score-line stood at 59-59. It seems as though the previous record of the longest fifth set score-line of 21-19 between Roddick and El Aynaoui was somewhat of a joke compared to this mammoth score-line. Even Isner after the match admitted, “Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever.” Even defending champion Roger Federer called it a special match, saying at some points he wished he was playing it, whereas on some occasions he wished he was not. The match now resumes tomorrow, with each player shaking off their fatigue to finally seal the deal. Ironically, the match was so long that at least three World Cup football matches were played during that time.
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