John Isner - Nicolas Mahut (Wimbledon 2010)

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Plaque on Court No. 18 from Wimbledon

John Isner versus Nicolas Mahut was a first-round encounter at the Tennis Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon in 2010 . The match began on June 22nd and lasted three days. With a total length of 11 hours and 5 minutes of playing time, it is by far the longest match in tennis history . The end result was 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 7 (7: 9), 7: 6 (7: 3) and 70:68 for Isner.

The players

John Isner, 2009
Nicolas Mahut, 2008

The then 25-year-old American John Isner started as number 23 player in the tournament, his world ranking position was 19th. The three years older French Nicolas Mahut started as 149th in the world rankings and first had to qualify, where he was against Frank Dancevic (6: 3, 6: 0), Alex Bogdanovic (3: 6, 6: 3, 24:22) and Stefan Koubek (6: 7 (8:10), 3: 6, 6: 3, 6 : 4, 6: 4) prevailed.

In 2000 Mahut had won the junior tournament at Wimbledon. In the final he beat Mario Ančić . Mahut's best Wimbledon result among the pros was reaching the third round in 2006. Isner had always failed in the first round before.

Both players, especially the 2.08 meter tall Isner, were considered strong servers even before the game , which should prove to be an important factor for the duration of the match, especially in the fifth set. The only meeting of the two up to then had been won by Mahut in 2008 at the lawn tournament at the Queen's Club in London with 7: 5 and 6: 4.

course

The match began on June 22, 2010 at 6:08 p.m. UK daylight saving time on one of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club's smallest courts , Court 18 , which seats 782, and was abandoned at 9:07 p.m. due to darkness. At that point, Isner and Mahut had each won two sets in a very even game, each one in the tie-breaker . By then, 174 minutes had been completed. The match continued on June 23 at 2:05 p.m. on the same court. The fifth set did not go into the tie-break at 6: 6; Rather, the usual rule at this tournament was applied that this decisive set is played until one of the players has two games ahead. At 10: 9 and 33:32, Isner had the first match points, but Mahut was able to fend them off. At 5:45 p.m. the previous record for the longest tennis match was set. At 47:47 the electronic scoreboard failed. At 9:13 p.m., after a total of 10 hours of play, the match was interrupted for the second time due to darkness at 59:59, after Mahut had fought off a match point again immediately before.

Accompanied by huge media and audience interest, the match continued on June 24th at 3:43 pm. Since, according to ITF tennis rules, a match must be played to the end on the court on which it started, as if there had been no interruption, the game could not be moved to a larger court. In the first service game after the sequel, John Isner hit his 100th ace in the game, and Mahut also managed the same when the score was 62:61. In the 20th game after the restart, Isner finally managed the first break in the fifth set to 70:68 and thus to victory.

Records (selection)

Reactions

On the evening of June 23rd, the match on the tournament grounds was the number one topic of conversation even among prominent players. Novak Đoković said: “I'm amazed that both of them were able to hold their serve so consistently throughout the day. It's unbelievable, you have to take your hat off to both of them. "The eight-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer commented on Isner's game during the game:" John [Isner] hardly moves anymore, but is still able to serve good to bring if he has to. I don't know anymore if I cried or laughed. It was too much for me. ”And further:“ I've never experienced anything like it. One will lose, but in this match both will be winners. "

In an interview immediately after the game, Isner said it was annoying that there had to be a loser at all. Mahut described Isner as a deserved winner.

The international press treated the game with numerous superlatives. The French sports newspaper L'Équipe spoke of a "historic moment". The Spanish Marca saw Isner as the winner of the "Game of Records". The German magazine Focus even saw the "tennis god" triumph over "king soccer" - "at least for a few hours" , with reference to the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa .

Awards

John Isner, Nicolas Mahut and Mohamed Lahyani in front of the scoreboard

The organizers of the tournament honored both players as well as the chair referee Mohamed Lahyani with a short-term award after the match. The prizes were presented by Ann Haydon-Jones and Tim Henman .

The International Tennis Hall of Fame added the two opponents' rackets to its museum collection.

Further course of the tournament and meeting a year later

In the second round, Isner met 21-year-old Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker , who himself had played an unusually long first-round match - 4 hours and 6 minutes - against the Colombian Santiago Giraldo (6: 7, 6: 4, 6: 3, 5 : 7 and 16:14). Isner lost 0: 6, 3: 6 and 2: 6. The match lasted 74 minutes, making it the shortest in the tournament to date. The first set only lasted 16 minutes. Isner didn't hit a single ace during the game.

A year later , Isner and Mahut met again in the first main round of the Wimbledon tournament, which met with wide media coverage. Isner was also able to win this game - this time in three sets - with 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 2 and 7: 6 (8: 6).

Web links

Commons : John Isner - Nicolas Mahut at the Wimbledon Championships 2010  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Longest match in history suspended. In: espn.com. June 24, 2010, accessed January 17, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Wimbledon - 70:68! Tennis madness over. In: .eurosport.yahoo.com. June 24, 2010, archived from the original on November 15, 2012 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Longest match in tennis history suspended at 59-59 in fifth set. In: sportsillustrated.cnn.com. June 23, 2010, archived from the original on June 28, 2010 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 (English).
  4. ^ John Isner - Ranking History. In: atpworldtour.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Bruce Jenkins: Isner, Mahut staging most amazing first-rounder in Grand Slam history. In: si.com. June 23, 2010, accessed January 17, 2017 .
  6. ^ Nicolas Mahut VS John Isner. In: atpworldtour.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  7. ^ Wimbledon 2010: Epic halted at 59-59 in fifth set. In: bbc.co.uk. June 23, 2010, accessed January 17, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Wimbledon madness over: Isner wins 70:68. In: diepresse.com. June 24, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  9. ↑ It runs and runs and runs ... In: .stern.de. June 24, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  10. ^ Isner v Mahut Highlights. In: wimbledon.org. Archived from the original on June 27, 2010 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 (English).
  11. ^ Roddick edges El Aynaoui in the Aussie Open classic. In: cbc.ca. January 22, 2003, accessed January 17, 2017 .
  12. ↑ a b Records for Eternity: Mahut / Isner «inhuman». In: sueddeutsche.de. Archived from the original on July 16, 2010 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 .
  13. ↑ 59:59 - Record match canceled. In: welt.com. June 23, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Champ's back. In: .wimbledon.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 (English).
  15. ^ Isner and Mahut in world record marathon tennis match. In: cnn.com. June 24, 2010, accessed January 17, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Isner outlasts Mahut 70-68 in fifth set to win longest match ever. June 24, 2010, archived from the original on June 27, 2010 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 (English).
  17. ↑ 70-68, c'est Isner. In: lequipe.fr. June 24, 2010, archived from the original on June 20, 2015 ; Retrieved January 17, 2017 (French).
  18. ↑ John Isner gana el partido de todos los récords. In: marca.com. June 24, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2017 (Spanish).
  19. ↑ Daniel Müksch: Tennis god beats king football. In: focus.de. June 24, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
  20. ↑ The game that never ends. (No longer available online.) In: fr-online.de. June 20, 2011, archived from the original on December 19, 2014 ; accessed on January 17, 2017 .