The Tennis Match That Took Three Days

At Wimbledon in 2010, two players walked onto Court 18 for a first-round match. Nobody expected anything special. John Isner was an American, tall, with a powerful serve. Nicolas Mahut was French, lower-ranked, and not famous outside of tennis. Their match was scheduled for one afternoon.

It did not end that afternoon. It did not end the next day either.

The two players began their match on Tuesday, June 22. Neither of them could break the other one's serve. They played through three sets, then four. By evening, with the score at two sets all, the umpire stopped the match because of fading light. They would have to finish tomorrow.

On Wednesday, they came back. They played the fifth set, which has no tiebreak at Wimbledon. They would have to win it by two games. The score climbed: 10-10, 20-20, 30-30. Mahut held his serve. Isner held his. Eventually it reached 59-59. The crowd watched, silent, almost embarrassed. The match had to be stopped again. Light, once more.

On Thursday, after over ten hours on the court, John Isner finally broke the serve of his exhausted opponent. The final score in the fifth set was 70-68. The entire match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Mahut hit 103 aces and still lost.

When it was over, neither player could speak well to the cameras. Both were given small medals to mark what had happened. The court itself got a small plaque added to it. Years later, it is still the longest tennis match ever played, and most people in tennis believe it will never be beaten.