Players battle it out for more than 11 hours
The longest tennis match in history finally ended at Wimbledon at teatime today after 183 games, which took 11 hours and 5 minutes, stretched over three days.
John Isner and Nicolas Mahut's first-round match set the record for the longest ever tennis match in history in terms of number of games and duration.
The match was first suspended on Tuesday at two-sets all and on Wednesday at 59-59 in the fifth set, before a winner finally emerged this afternoon when American Isner triumphed, with the final score 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68.
The last set alone accounted for eight hours and 11 minutes of that time – nearly 1.5 hours more than the previous longest match on record. The two players each eclipsed the century-mark in number of aces, Isner firing 112 and French qualifier Mahut 103, and held 168 consecutive service games.
The All England Club organised a presentation ceremony to mark the occasion and Tim Henman and Ann Jones gave presents of a crystal bowl and champagne flutes to both players and to the umpire, Mohamed Lahyani.
June 24, 2010