The longest tennis match ran 11 hours over three days
A first-round Wimbledon match in 2010 produced a final set that went 70 games to 68 - longer than most whole matches in history.
When John Isner of the United States met French qualifier Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, no one expected a record. The match began on 22 June 2010 on the modest Court 18 and did not finish until 24 June - spread across three days, with play twice suspended for fading light.
The decisive fifth set alone lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes, since Wimbledon then had no final-set tie-break: a player simply had to win by two games. Isner finally prevailed 70-68 in that set, for a total of 183 games and an overall playing time of 11 hours, 5 minutes.
Each man served more than 100 aces in the same match - a feat no one had managed before.
Guinness World Records recognises it as the longest professional tennis match ever played.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
