Wimbledon marathon recalled

The longest match in tennis history was completed at Wimbledon on this day in 2010.

Courier Sport looks back at American John Isner’s epic victory over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

Isner holds his nerve

Isner finally broke the serve of Mahut to secure an unforgettable 70-68 victory in the deciding set of their first-round encounter, which spanned over three days.

After 11 hours and five minutes on Court 18 and with a raft of records having been broken, 23rd seed Isner found two crucial winners to break his opponent’s resistance.

The pair had first walked on court at 6.13pm on Tuesday June 22 and Isner secured a 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3) 70-68 triumph at 4.47pm on Thursday June 24 to bring the curtain down on one of the most remarkable episodes in the All England Club’s history. Records tumbled...

The match remains by far the longest in tennis history in both number of games – 183 – and time. The final set alone, which lasted eight hours and 11 minutes, was longer than the previous longest match.

The previous grand slam record was six hours and 33 minutes set by Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement at the French Open in 2004.

Prior to Isner’s marathon win the previous record for games played in a match was 122, set in 1973 in a Davis Cup match when the USA’S Stan Smith and Erik Van Dillen defeated Chile’s Patricio Cornejo and Jaime Fillol 7-9 37-39 8-6 6-1 6-3.

The previous record for most games in a singles match was 112, set in 1969 when Pancho Gonzales beat Charlie Pasarell 22-24 1-6 16-14 6-3 11-9, also in the first round at Wimbledon. ...And more records tumbled

Isner, 6ft 10in, and Mahut set a record for the highest number of aces in a match – 215.

Ivo Karlovic and Radek Stepanek fired down 96 aces in the 2009 Davis Cup tie between Croatia and the Czech Republic, but Isner smashed 112, while Mahut hit 103.

Both players surpassed Karlovic’s previous record of 78 aces against Stepanek.

Isner and Mahut’s titanic battle also set new records for consecutive service games held in a match (168), most games won in a match by both winning player (92) and losing player (91), most points played in a match (980) and most points won in a match (Mahut 502, Isner 478).