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On this day, June 24, 2010, the longest tennis match ever played finally ended.
Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships
{snip}
The Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships is the longest tennis match in history. It was a first-round Men's Singles match, in which the American 23rd seed John Isner played against French qualifier Nicolas Mahut. The match began at 6:13 pm (British Summer Time, or 17:13 UTC) on Tuesday, 22 June 2010, on Court 18 at Wimbledon. At 9:07 pm, due to fading light, play was suspended before the start of the fifth set. After resuming on Wednesday, 23 June, at 2:05 pm, the record for longest match was broken at 5:45 pm. The light faded again, and so play was suspended at 9:09 pm, with the final set tied at 59 games all. Play resumed at 3:40 pm on Thursday, 24 June, and Isner won at 4:47 pm, the final set having lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes.
In total, the match took 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 for a total of 183 games. It remains by far the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games. The final set alone was longer than the previous longest match.
Both players broke numerous Wimbledon and tennis records, including each serving over 100 aces, with the match being referred to as "the endless match." A rule change instituted for the 2019 Championships introducing a tie break in the fifth set (or third set for women's matches) means that the Isner–Mahut match will remain the longest match in Wimbledon tournament history in terms of games played, barring any future rule change.
Currently, the French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that still has no tiebreaker system for the deciding set.
{snip}
{snip}
The Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships is the longest tennis match in history. It was a first-round Men's Singles match, in which the American 23rd seed John Isner played against French qualifier Nicolas Mahut. The match began at 6:13 pm (British Summer Time, or 17:13 UTC) on Tuesday, 22 June 2010, on Court 18 at Wimbledon. At 9:07 pm, due to fading light, play was suspended before the start of the fifth set. After resuming on Wednesday, 23 June, at 2:05 pm, the record for longest match was broken at 5:45 pm. The light faded again, and so play was suspended at 9:09 pm, with the final set tied at 59 games all. Play resumed at 3:40 pm on Thursday, 24 June, and Isner won at 4:47 pm, the final set having lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes.
In total, the match took 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 for a total of 183 games. It remains by far the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games. The final set alone was longer than the previous longest match.
Both players broke numerous Wimbledon and tennis records, including each serving over 100 aces, with the match being referred to as "the endless match." A rule change instituted for the 2019 Championships introducing a tie break in the fifth set (or third set for women's matches) means that the Isner–Mahut match will remain the longest match in Wimbledon tournament history in terms of games played, barring any future rule change.
Currently, the French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that still has no tiebreaker system for the deciding set.
{snip}
