Tennis is an energy sapping sport. On the men’s side, they slog it out in the Grand Slams in a best of five set match while the women do likewise in a best of three set match. Tennis is often described as one of the most physically intensive sports, requiring incredible endurance from the players, both physically and mentally. One match, in particular, defied belief and remains the longest tennis match ever recorded.
That match was an encounter between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010. It lasted a staggering 11 hours and five minutes and was contested over three days. Tennis players are unbelievably fit and are among the fittest athletes in the world, and both of these showcased that and more back in 2010.
Isner vs Mahut, Wimbledon, 2010
When you consider the average three-set tennis match lasts for around 90 minutes, what Isner and Mahut produced will constantly be remembered. Tennis betting may not be as popular as other sports like football or Horse Racing, but with games like this, it should certainly have a higher profile.
The final result of the first round Wimbledon match was eventually won by American John Isner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 and the length of the match, which you can see on the digital boards on the courts, read 665 minutes (11 hours and 5 minutes). This marathon was spread out over three days at the All England Club.
This match wasn’t expected to be particularly memorable. Both players had decent records, Isner was building up a strong reputation at the time as a big serving American who could thrive on the grass and follow in the footsteps of Andy Roddick in having a successful career. However, it was placed out on court 18 and wasn’t deemed high profile enough to be on one of the show courts. The match began on 18th June, 2010, with four sets being completed before bad light stopped play.
Both players then stepped back onto court the following day and entered a fifth set, with both constantly holding serve before, once again, play was stopped due to bad light. Remarkably, this meant play would enter a third day. To add to the uniqueness, the electronic board stopped working at 47-47 in the fifth set, it hadn’t been programmed to record a score beyond that.
After what felt like the whole two weeks of the tournament, and likely years for the players, Isner eventually prevailed in the 138th game of the fifth set to progress to the second round, and forever etch his name into the history of Wimbledon and tennis as a whole.
Other Longest Tennis Matches
Isner vs Mahut is the longest tennis match ever played, but there have been other epic encounters. Amazingly, Isner features twice in the list of the top 10 longest tennis matches. Once again at Wimbledon, this time in the semi-finals in 2018, he lost to Kevin Anderson 6-7, 7-6, 7-6. 4-6, 24-26. That match lasted six hours and 36 minutes.
The longest match in women’s singles history lasted around six hours and 31 minutes between Jean Harper and Vicki Nelson in the first round of the Central Fidelity Banks International event back in 1984.
In doubles, the longest match occurred at the 2013 Davis Cup between Switzerland and the Czech Republic. That match lasted seven hours and two minutes.
