perseus
Active member
John Isner and Nicolas Mahut tore up the record books as their epic first-round contest at Wimbledon became the longest in tennis history.
The match was locked at 59-59 in the final set after 10 hours of play when it was suspended because of bad light.
The decision meant that, incredibly, the contest would go into a third day, having been called off at two sets all on Tuesday for the same reason.
It will resume on Court 18 on Thursday after two other singles matches.
The final set, which began shortly after 1400 BST on Wednesday and was still going seven hours later when the sun went down, is already longer than any match ever played.
Isner, with 98, and Mahut (95) have also both smashed the previous record for the most aces, the 78 set by Ivo Karlovic in a Davis Cup tie in 2009.
The previous longest match was at the French Open in 2004, when Fabrice Santoro beat Arnaud Clement after six hours and 35 minutes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8757259.stm
The match was locked at 59-59 in the final set after 10 hours of play when it was suspended because of bad light.
The decision meant that, incredibly, the contest would go into a third day, having been called off at two sets all on Tuesday for the same reason.
It will resume on Court 18 on Thursday after two other singles matches.
The final set, which began shortly after 1400 BST on Wednesday and was still going seven hours later when the sun went down, is already longer than any match ever played.
Isner, with 98, and Mahut (95) have also both smashed the previous record for the most aces, the 78 set by Ivo Karlovic in a Davis Cup tie in 2009.
The previous longest match was at the French Open in 2004, when Fabrice Santoro beat Arnaud Clement after six hours and 35 minutes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8757259.stm
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