80959B41-3A97-4244-9D00-4DA41E234B7C
By Richard Pagliaro
© Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA
(June 23, 2010) The seemingly eternal exchange escalated into an encounter for the ages — then it short-circuited the scoreboard.
John Isner and Nicolas Mahut waged a Wimbledon war of wills lasting so long it blew out the scoreboard and blew the minds of some fans on hand to witness history.
It's not over yet.
They will reconvene tomorrow to try to finish off an enthralling encounter that will span three days by the time it finally wraps up.
Four days into The Championships, Isner and Mahut are still locked in a first-round fight with both refusing to blink.
A match that has required a calendar as well as a clock to measure it, has obliterated tennis' longevity records, crossed the line from compelling competition into surreal saga and was suspended due to darkness deadlocked at 59-59 in the fifth set after French qualifier Mahut fought off four match points in the final set.
Twenty-four hours and three minutes after the match was postponed Tuesday night, Isner and Mahut again walked off the court together to a rousing standing ovation after a dramatic duel that is the longest match in tennis history, clocking in at 10 hours to break the prior record of 6 hours, 33 minutes set when Fabrice Santoro beat Arnaud Clement at the 2004 French Open.
How historic is this marathon match?
Consider that the fifth set alone has clocked in at more than seven hours, longer than any match ever played in the history of tennis.
A match that has gained international attention has shattered tennis history in setting the records for most games played (163), longest fifth set (118 games), and most total aces as Isner hit 98 aces and Mahut struck 95 aces.
An absurdly long day's journey into a second night of play saw Isner and Mahut take tennis on a historic trip, discovering depths of their own desire and competitive wills that they may not have even known existed.
Playing into previously uncharted depths of the fifth set, neither man could break serve or crack the competitive spirit of their opponent.
"Nothing like this will ever happen again — ever," said Isner, who smacked 98 aces to break Ivo Karlovic's previous record of 78 aces set in Davis Cup play. "I don't know what to say. He's serving fantastic, I'm serving fantastic and that's all there is to it. We both couldn't agree to play so (it was) canceled."
Precisely 24 hours and three minutes after the pair exited Court 18 on Tuesday night, they were deadlocked in the longest match in tennis history with daylight fading and their wills to win unyielding.
This was no longer tennis it was a sporting Shakespearean saga played out like a mini series.
At 58-59, Mahut sent a double fault deep giving Isner his fourth match point and first match point since 32-33. Mahut reached back and drove a dart of an ace down the middle, his 94th ace of the match. After holding to forge the 59-all tie nd hearing the fans on Court 18 chant "We want more! We want more!" Mahut told the referee he simply could not see the ball well enough to continue.
"He is just a champion. We have to fight like we never did before," Mahut said. "Someone has to win so we will come back tomorrow and see who wins."
The fifth set alone spanned 7 hours, 6 minutes, longer than any match in the history of tennis as Isner edged to the brink of victory four times.
Mahut saved the first match point with an ace at 9-10, fought off two more match points serving at 32-33 and then saved a fourth match point at 58-59 with another ace.
The day-long fifth offered scarce extensive rallies and few break points, but enough fortitude, fitness and fight to fill an entire stadium.
Through the most grueling match of their lives both men competed with class and composure. Neither took a bathroom break or an injury timeout for most of the fifth set until the referee granted them both a bathroom break. Neither dilly dallyed with pre-point primping, excessive ball-bouncing or spent too much time swiping away sweat with their towels.
They just dug in and fought with unrelenting passion even as Isner sometimes wore the vacant and slightly dazed expression of a man who had just seen a ghost emerge from a fog, but was simply too tired to be unnerved by the sight.
The 6'9" Isner played with a pit bull's perseverance fighting off both fatigue and a fiercely focused Mahut, who remarkably continued to hold serving second throughout the fifth set and knowing the slightest mistake could be fatal.
It was a match so grueling, the scoreboard short-circuited at 47-47.
Pacing slowly around the court, former Georgia bull dog Isner looked to be in dire need of a visit from a Saint Bernard carrying smelling salts when he faced double break point at 50-50 in the fifth set. But Isner stood tall and erased both break points to hold for 51-50.
Serving at 53-54, Mahut was slightly off balance as he sent a crosscourt forehand wide to fall into a love-30 hole.
Under immense pressure, Mahut, who had held for 72 consecutive games at that point, showed his competitive guts in serve-and-volleying on a second serve then slashing a slice ace down the middle for 30-all. Mahut followed with another ace, his 60th of the set and 86th overall, for game point then deadlocked the set at 54-all with a booming serve out wide.
At 42-all, a lethargic-looking Isner went back for an overhead but slapped the shot well wide to fall to deuce. Shaking off that shank, Isner slammed his 85th ace on the 700th point of the match and followed with another stinging serve.
At 37-all, a weary Isner slammed his record 79th ace down the middle, breaking the record set by Ivo Karlovic in Davis Cup.
As the set progressed, Isner, who can serve in the 140 mph range, began to lose some speed off his fast, flat serve and spent some of the time on changeovers biting his towel, but he picked up the pace on his forehand.
Meanwhile Mahut, who competed with more grit and guts than the entire French World Cup soccer team, is playing his second marathon in a week. He outlasted Briton Alex Bogdanovic, 24-22, in the final set of his second round of qualifying last week. Continuing to serve and volley at times deep into the fifth, the tireless Frenchman refused to crack while playing catch up for the entire day, hurling his body around the court in two desperate dives late in the fifth set.
They return to play tomorrow knowing someone has to lose and that tennis has already won.