What can be done in 11 hours and 5 minutes? Fly from Rome to Bangkok, do Binge-Watching of a TV series, make a sleeping sleep or how they did John Isner And Nicolas Mahut play the longer tennis match in history. “We inform you that it ended” was the phrase of the commentators at the end of this match staged from 22 to 24 June 2010 on Campo 18 ofAll England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club London during the first round of the famous tournament of Wimbledon. With its 183 game, 216 ACE Totali (direct points from the joke) and the interruptions for darkness, a game initially little followed between the number 18 of the ATP ranking and the number 124 has become a physical and mental resistance test. A similar company was possible only by virtue of a rule then in force in Wimbledon, but today no longer in use: theabsence of the tie-break in the 5th set. This rule, which required to win with two waste game, led the decisive set to end with the record score of 70-68 in favor of the American Isner.
The chronicler of the longest game in the history of tennis
It was a Tuesday, for the precise on June 23, 2010, when John Isner – 208 cm American giant, famous for its powerful service – e Nicolas Mahut – French tennis player from the qualifying of the tournament – they took the field to challenge each other in the first round of Wimbledon.
The match, which began at 18.13, was suspended for the first time the same evening around 9.00 pm for darkness on the score of 2 Set equal (6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6). The next day the 5th and decisive set began at 17:45 and, after more than 3 0re, a game of normal administration beat the record of longer match in the history of tennisovercoming the 6 hours and 43 minutes total. The endless challenge was interrupted for the second time, always for lack of light, on the score of 59 – 59 on the 5th set.
Thursday 24 June one of the two tennis players, both now extremelyhe finally manages to put an end to this test of physical and mental resistance after another abundant hour of play. John Isner manages to snatch the opponent’s service on 68-68 and to launch the decisive paw to win the last set, which lasted alone 8 hours and 11 minutes (more than the longest game in history until then), 70-68.
During the 11 hours and 5 minutes of the game, 5 Team of Raccattapalle The change on field 18, while the referee has always remained the same, Mohamed Layhani. The score scoreboard also gave signs of failure on 47 even, turning off as it was not scheduled to mark such high scores.
The match between Isner and Mahut has inevitably broken several records
Playing for 11 hours and 5 minutes involves a very large number of exchanges and winning jokes, here are the records that were beaten during the longest game in the history of tennis:
- Total game: 183 – Previous 112 recorded in 1969
- Game in a set: 138 – The previous primacy was 48 game
- Total points played: 980
- Total shots: 2.198
- ACE for single player: 113 for Isner, 103 for Mahut
- Total ace in the match: 216 – considerably exceeding the previous record of 96 ace in a meeting
A plaque was created on field 18 to remember the event.
The duration record will be impossible to beat: how the rules have changed after this match
The epic sports marathon of field 18 ofAll England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club of London did not limit himself to rewriting history but also led to changes in the regulation of this sport. The infinite duration of this meeting was made possible by the fact that Wimbledon did not provide for the tie-break In all sets (as the third and fourth, finite demonstrate 6-7 And 7-6) except in the 5thwhere it was necessary to win with two waste game. The tie-break It is the rule that, on the score of 6 Game equalprovides for a special game in which the first player wins that totals at least 7 points with an advantage of two points on the opponent, finishing the set with the score 7-6.
Although the tie-break, conceived by “Jimmy” Van Alen, was officially introduced into the circuit since the 70s (lo US Open He adopted it immediately also in the 5th set), the other Slam maintained the tradition of the set “to the bitter end” for a long time. The 11 hours of meeting put in light of two important critical issues: i Risks to the health of playersforced to important physical efforts, and the organizational and programming difficulties tournaments given by the unpredictable duration of the matches.
For these reasons, changes have been introduced in the regulation, even if it took almost 10 years. Wimbledon introduced into 2019 a tie-break on 12-12. The definitive turning point, as announced in a communicated communication by the four tournaments of the Grand Slam and from theITFarrived in March 2022 When in all Slam, on the score of 6-6 in the decisive set, the Super Tie-break 10 points. The logic is identical to normal tie-break, but the finish line to be reached is not 7 mA 10 pointsalways keeping the two differences of waste. In both formats, the set score is still recorded as 7-6.
