First Round Match at Wimbledon

(A guest post by RVMan)

A first round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut has been suspended due to darkness, and will finish tomorrow.

Currently, it is split 2 sets to 2, playing the 5th set. It is (6-4) (3-6) (6-7) (7-6) (59-59).

That is not a typo.

The fifth set, alone, is the longest grand slam tennis match ever played, at slightly over 7 hours. The total over the two days has thus far been 10 hours playing time. It took, literally, all day – they played the first four sets on Tuesday, were suspended due to darkness, went out this morning and played 118 games, before suspension due to darkness, again. (The prior grand slam record is 6:33, at the French Open a few years ago.) I assume this is also a record for tennis as a whole; I can’t imagine a 3 set match ever went this long. Both players have broken the Wimbledon record for most aces. (Which is part of the problem, as neither player seems capable of breaking the other’s serve. ) The 5th set has already had more games than any full match in known history – the record was 100, in a match in 1969 (pre tie-breaker).