Longest match in tennis time. Longest match in tennis history
The Grand Slams and Davis Cup matches are the perfect place to add to the list of record-breaking matches in the history of tennis, as they are the only places where the five-set format has survived to this day.
It is interesting that it was the Davis Cup, the importance of which is regarded by many leading tennis players much lower than the “majors”, which gave the most lengthy matches, most often testifying to the incredible intensity of the struggle.
Of the ten longest men's tennis matches in the history of the Open Era, six are specifically Davis Cups, and most of them have met outstanding athletes who have enriched the history of the game by no means only with these results.
5 hours 41 minutes. Paul-Henri Mathieu - John Isner. Roland Garros -2012, second round - 6/7(2), 6/4, 6/4, 3/6, 18/16
John Isner regularly becomes the hero of the column "the longest matches". Taking the pitch of the American giant is problematic even for the players of the Big Four, to say nothing of the rest of the tennis players. However, when John comes across an opponent who also categorically refuses to give up his games, a stalemate is created.
In a match with Paul-Henri Mathieu at last year's Roland Garros, the American looked like a favorite, but in the fifth installment the Frenchman, to the applause of his native audience, stood up literally tightly. The war of nerves eventually ended with the fact that it was Isner who trembled. On this moment this match is the second longest in French Open history.
5 hours 45 minutes. Mehdi Tahiri - Gilles Muller. 2005 Davis Cup, First Group - 6/7(4), 6/4, 7/6(3), 6/7(5), 6/4
The national teams of Morocco and Luxembourg lost their starting matches, so no one wanted to leave the First Group. The fierce battle between the Moroccans who had lost their former splendor and the Luxembourgers who never shone was marked by a stubborn and tough confrontation between Mehdi Tahiri and Gilles Muller.
The Moroccan veteran, who had defended the colors of the national team since 1993, resisted fiercely and was able to achieve victory. This, however, did not help his team - Luxembourg won and retained a place in the Davis Cup First Group.
5 hours 46 minutes. Arnaud Clement - Marc Rosset. 2001 Davis Cup Quarterfinal - 6/3, 3/6, 7/6(5), 6/7(6), 15/13
Arnaud Clement is another frequenter of such matches. In 2001, the French team was heading for its ninth victory in the Davis Cup, but the Swiss turned out to be an unexpectedly serious obstacle in its path - the young Roger Federer and the most experienced Mark Rosset.
It was he, the Olympic champion of Barcelona, who twice equalized the score in the opening match of the match against Clement, and in the fifth installment he resisted for twenty-eight games. Clement snatched the victory, but the outcome of the match was decided only in the fifth match, which Rosse, physically exhausted, could no longer enter. Georg Bastl lost in five sets to Nicolas Escude, and the French team proceeded to the semi-finals.
5 hours 53 minutes. Novak Djokovic - Rafael Nadal. Australian Open-2012, final - 5/7, 6/4, 6/2, 6/7(5), 7/5
But this match all the fans remember very well. And not only because it took place just over a year ago. "In hot pursuit" some experts suggested that the match be recognized as the best in the history of tennis, but even the most notorious skeptics will agree that he is in the top ten without any questions.
Both great tennis players showed here the best they could, giving all the best throughout each draw. Rafael Nadal failed to get rid of the "Djokovic complex" in Melbourne, but it was here that he took the first step towards this.
5 hours 59 minutes. Radek Stepanek - Ivo Karlovich. 2009 Davis Cup Semi-Final - 6/7(5), 7/6(5), 7/6(6), 6/7(2), 16/14
When Ivo Karlovic has a serve, and the opponents have a strong tennis player, this means that each set is likely to end in a tie-break. That is exactly what happened in the opening bout of the 2009 Davis Cup semi-finals. The problem for Ivo was that Radek Stepanek's serve also went...
As a result, four games invariably ended in tie-breaks, and according to the results of the marathon fifth set, the more experienced and seasoned Stepanek turned out to be stronger. When, in the second duel, Tomasz Berdych also defeated Marin Cilic in five games, almost everything in this semi-final became clear.
6 hours 4 minutes. Horst Skoff - Mats Wilander. 1989 Davis Cup Quarterfinal - 6/7(5), 7/6(7), 1/6, 6/4, 9/7
The Swedish national team, along with the West Germany team, was one of the main favorites for the Davis Cup in the eighties. However, the opponent in the quarter-final the Swedes got a very severe. The Austrian team, led by the young Thomas Muster, defeated the Australians in the first round, and had to seriously compete with the favorites on the Vienna soil.
However, a few days before the match with the Swedes, Muster was hit by a car in Key Biscayne, as a result of which he tore two knee ligaments at once. But even without their leader, the Austrians fought desperately. 21-year-old Horst Skoff fought twice in the match with the former first racket of the world, and in the decisive set he was able to make such an important break. Nevertheless, the victory in the match still went to the Swedes, who lost to the German national team in the final of the tournament.
The life of one of the heroes of this match did not really work out. Horst won four ATP tournaments, but in 1995 he was forced to retire. In 2008, at the age of thirty-nine, Horst Skoff died of a heart attack.
6 hours 21 minutes. Boris Becker - John McEnroe. 1987 Davis Cup World Group Playoffs - 4/6, 15/13, 8/10, 6/2, 6/2
It is hard to imagine, but in 1987 the national teams of Germany and the USA met in the World Group playoff match, having suffered defeat in the first round of the draw. Not wanting to leave the elite, the team captains pulled up their best forces- young Boris Becker and aging, but still formidable John McEnroe.
At that time, there were no tie-breaks in the Davis Cup yet, so the main events unfolded in the second and third sets, one of which went to Boris, and the other to John. However, two marathon games exhausted the great American so much that after that he only episodically offered worthy resistance. Becker won, and with him - the German team, sending the US team to the hardest "knockout".
6 hours 22 minutes. John McEnroe - Mats Wilander. 1982 Davis Cup Quarterfinal - 9/7, 6/2, 15/17, 3/6, 8/6
Well, five years before that, McEnroe was in his prime and at the zenith of his glory. Everything he could, “Junior” in the quarterfinal match against the Swedish team did, but let down partners – Eliot Teltscher and Brian Gottfried. As a result, McEnroe's second singles match against Mats Wilander proved to be decisive.
McEnroe took the first two sets in the fight, but in the third installment the young Swede flatly refused to lose. Mats literally took all the balls, and according to the results of the titanic struggle, he celebrated the victory in the game - 17/15. Inspired Wilander equalized the score - 2:2, and resisted for a long time in the fifth set, until McEnroe remembered that he was, after all, the first racket of the world.
In the future, the Americans had no problems with winning the Davis Cup - 5:0 with the Australians and 4:1 with the French in the final. But the duel between McEnroe and Wilander was the longest in the history of the Davis Cup.
6 hours 33 minutes. Fabrice Santoro - Arnaud Clement. "Roland Garros" -2004, first round - 6/4, 6/3, 6/7(5), 3/6, 16/14
The last "Roland Garros" "donadalevskoy" era turned out to be extremely interesting. In particular, the fans were also pleased with two outstanding Frenchmen. Santoro and Clement lasted their match until dark, as a result of which the fight had to be rescheduled for the second day.
But even after the resumption of the game, the two brave Frenchmen fought so famously that they eventually set the record for the duration of matches in the history of Roland Garros, as well as the absolute record of the Open Era. Who could have known that this achievement was destined to last only six years?
11 hours 5 minutes. John Isner - Nicolas Mayut. Wimbledon 2010 first round. 6/4, 3/6, 6/7(7), 7/6(3), 70/68
This fight will forever remain in the history of tennis. Three days, one hundred and eighty-three games, two hundred and sixteen aces, nine absolute game records. It is unlikely that a duel like this will ever take place. Although, do not hesitate. After the match between Santoro and Clement in 2004, something similar also sounded.
By the way, interesting fact- It took Serena Williams a total of just under ten hours to win the 2010 Wimbledon title in seven matches - less than that titanic first-round match lasted.
However, do not underestimate women's tennis, because the longest fight here lasted 6 hours 31 minutes - and this is for two sets! In 1984 on WTA tournament in Richmond, American Vicki Nelson defeated her compatriot Jean Hepner with a score of 6/4, 7/6 (9).
This match also set two absolute tennis records. Firstly, the longest draw in the history of tennis was recorded here - 643 strokes in twenty-nine minutes. Secondly, this is the longest meeting in history - of those that were played over the course of one day. After all, Clement and Santoro, and even more so Mayu and Isner, did not meet in one day.
So women tennis players also have something to brag about. However, in the total mass of five-set matches, men have a chance to establish outstanding record much more. I wonder what the 2013 season will please the fans in this area?
Seventeen years ago, on April 26, 1998, the most massive session of the simultaneous game of checkers took place. Three-time world champion Barbadian Ron King, nicknamed "Ali Checkers" for his long tongue, played against 385 opponents and beat them all. We present the most striking examples of long matches from other sports.
Marathon at Wimbledon
Tennis matches are usually Wimbledon tournament carried over to the next day due to rain, sometimes due to darkness. And in very rare cases, due to the fact that both opponents can barely stand on their feet from fatigue. In 2010 French Nicolas Mayu and American John Isner played the most long match in the history of world tennis. In addition to the record for duration, records were set for the number of aces per game. In the fifth set alone, Isner fired more than any other tennis player in the entire match. When the score was 47:47 in the fifth set on court number 18, the scoreboard went out, as this was the maximum score for which it was programmed. Six games later, for the same reason, the statistics on the official Wimbledon website were reset to zero. The result of this amazing match is 6:4, 3:6, 6:7 (7:9), 7:6 (7:3), 70:68 in favor of Isner. In total, the match lasted three days, the net time spent by the players on the court was more than 11 hours. Immediately after the end, the players and, and a memorial plaque dedicated to this incredible game soon appeared on the wall of the court. Nicolas Mayu He was so shocked by what happened that he wrote the book "The Match of My Life".
Pyrrhic victory for the Russian team
At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Russian water polo masters came as one of the favorites. Group Tournament developed successfully for the Russians. In the quarterfinals, it was unexpectedly difficult with the Americans, but in the end our water polo players won. And in the semi-final Russian team got current at that time Olympic champions from Spain. It was a fabulous match. The Russians constantly came forward, the Spaniards caught up with them with the same regularity. In extra time, both teams were most afraid of making a mistake and, according to one of the commentators, sailed back faster than forward. In the end, everything was decided 10 seconds before the end of the third overtime with an accurate throw Dmitry Gorshkov. But the Russians did not have enough strength for the final match - the Hungarians easily beat our team with a score of 13:6. After the Sydney Games, changes were made to the regulations - the water polo players stopped playing endless overtime and switched to a penalty shootout.
Hotter than hell
April 5, 1915 in Havana (Cuba) took place the longest championship fight heavyweight boxers in history. American Jack Johnson, the first black world champion in heavyweight, defended his title in a fight with a compatriot Jess Willard. At that time, there was no regulation on the mandatory number of rounds in championship fights, and before each fight, the opponents agreed on its length.
This time we agreed on 45, which was supposed to show the exorbitant endurance of the boxers. The matter did not reach the desired number of rounds, the champion was knocked out in the 26th. After the defeat, Johnson always claimed that he had passed this fight - the dislike for the black champion was too great in America at that time. In fact, the champ just didn't bother with training before the fight, hoping to knock out Willard early in the fight. When this did not work out, it became clear that a long fight in forty-degree heat would play into the hands of the applicant. Perhaps Johnson really could get up after a missed blow, but in any case, his endurance would not be enough not only to win, but even to stay on his feet for another 20 rounds. Willard said after the fight only one phrase: "I think that even in hell it will not be as hot as here."
With a lunch break
One match in cricket can take place over several days, and the regulations include official breaks for lunch, tea and sleep. Modern rules limit matches by time, and earlier teams could play virtually indefinitely. This was the match played in 1939 by the teams of England and South Africa, which ended only when it was time for the British to get on the steamer to sail home. The match was played over nine days with two days off. The rain also added to the duration of the match - on one of the game days, the participants simply could not enter the field, completely flooded with water. Despite the length of the game (or maybe because of it), cricket is very popular in countries formerly part of the British Empire. that she did not know who (the greatest cricketer in history) who came to watch her match caused an uproar in India. Indian fans even came up with the #whoisMariaSharapova hashtag.
How one party changed all the rules
In 1989, a chess game was played in Belgrade between Ivan Nikolic And Goran Arsovich. The players signed a peace treaty after the 269th move and 20 hours spent at the board. In the endgame, only five pieces remained on the board - White had a king, a bishop and a rook, while black had a king and a rook. For more than a hundred moves, Nikolic tried to use his advantage, but nothing came of it. After this record, FIDE decided to introduce the "rule of 50" - if each of the players made 50 moves without capturing the opponent's piece, the game is declared a draw.
Agreement or fight?
June 24, 2010 at Wimbledon hosted the longest match in the history of tennis. The authors of the record were two inconspicuous tennis players of the second echelon - John Eisner (USA) and Nicolas Mayu (France). The longest tennis match lasted as much as 11 hours and 5 minutes. Thus, the previous record fell by almost a twofold excess.
Evil tongues say that the match was fixed and its participants simply found a way to get into history. On the other hand, eyewitnesses of the confrontation instruct that everything took place in a stubborn and exhausting struggle that cannot be played out.
Match results
The longest tennis match ended with a basketball score of 70:68 in favor of American John Eisner at Wimbledon tennis tournament on Thursday 24 June 2010. To the relief of the public, the fifth set of the longest match in the history of this sport has come to an end.
Eisner's amazing duel with the Frenchman Nicolas Mayu lasted a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes. The final score is 6:4, 3:6, 6:7 (7:9), 7:6 (7:3), 70:68 in favor of the American. From now on, he also holds the record for the number of aces in one match - 112.
Together, tennis players in this match filed right through 215 times. In the fifth set, where to win it was necessary to break away from the opponent by two points, they alternately took their serves. According to Eisner, who ended up in the second round of Wimbledon, "this will never happen again."
Previous records
The title of the longest match in the history of professional tennis until today was held by the duel between the Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement, who “butted” in 2004 on the slowest clay surface Roland Garros for 6 hours and 33 minutes. The Wimbledon record was 6 hours and 9 minutes.
The world record for the number of aces was previously held by Croatian Ivo Karlovic - 78 innings right through in the 2009 Davis Cup match Croatia - Czech Republic.
The meeting was suspended for the first time on Tuesday before the submission of the American in the decisive game. However, on Wednesday, the tennis players failed to determine the strongest in their confrontation, the referees separated them with a score of 59:59 in the decisive set.
Perhaps the participants in this unusual marathon simply wanted to forever write their names in the history of tennis in this way. How else to explain the fact that during yesterday's day none of them could break away from the opponent by two points. Although, according to eyewitnesses, immediately before the suspension of the match on Wednesday, tennis players did everything possible to bring it to a victorious end. At the same time, the fans chanted non-stop: "We want more, we want more!"
The duel took place on the 18th court of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, due to which the game was not broadcast on the main sports television channels. However, one of the brightest masters in the history of tennis, John McEnroe, called it "the most outstanding advertisement for this sport."
The longest match in tennis history was played at Wimbledon.
American John Isner, ranked 19th in the ranking of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), played with the 148th racket of the world, Frenchman Nicolas Mayu, the longest match in the history of tennis. The duel of these rivals in the first round of Wimbledon lasted for three days. The match lasted 11 hours and five minutes and ended with Isner's victory with a score of 6:4, 3:6, 6:7 (7:9), 7:6 (7:3), 70:68.
Tennis players have broken a number of records - in particular, in the number of games in one set and one match, as well as in the number of aces. Isner completed 112 innings right through, and Mayu had 103 aces on his account. 
The match began on June 22, when the athletes played four sets. On June 23, the game continued - tennis players played to the score of 59:59 in the fifth installment, after which the match was again postponed due to darkness. On June 24, the meeting ended.
The previous tennis record was 6 hours 33 minutes, and it was set at Roland Garros 2004 by the French Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement. And the previous Wimbledon record was set in 2008 by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - then their final meeting lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes. 
The fifth decisive set of the match between Mayu and Isner has already surpassed in duration the match between Santoro and Clément at Roland Garros 2004 and is the longest set in the history of tennis. It should be noted that the match began on Tuesday, when tennis players played four sets, but on Wednesday the fifth set continued until the score was 59:59 and was rescheduled due to the onset of darkness.
Participants of the 11-hour match and main judge meetings Mohamed Lehyani from Sweden received valuable gifts at the end of the historic fight. So, the judge was presented with a crystal vase, Wimbledon's signature tie and silver cufflinks.
« You know, despite the fact that I spent more than 11 hours sitting on a chair, I did not feel tired., the judge said. - I was so caught up in what was going on on the court that my concentration kept me from thinking about anything else. You see, when you are so passionate about something, you do not think about food or taking a bath. I was shocked by the resilience and spirit of these tennis players who did the seemingly impossible.", - said the 44-year-old referee. 
Mohamed Lehyani, who lives in Spain, admitted that during the match he often lost his voice, and therefore he began to cough every now and then.
« To clear my throat, I not only cleared my throat, but also tried to drink more. Probably the most I haven't drunk in my entire life.”, The referee added, admitting that during the game he often even forgot about his stiff arms and legs, and when he remembered that he tried to stretch as little as possible on the tower, although he did not experience any particular inconvenience from stiff limbs, as he was already used to fixed seat during economy class air travel. 
Lehyani also said that he had not refereeed matches for so many hours before - the longest match under his service ended in five and a half hours.
And here are other Wimbledon records:
Longest match - 11 hours 5 minutes (previous record - Fabrice Santoro - Arnaud Clement at Roland Garros -2004 - 6 hours 33 minutes)
Most games in a match - 183 (Pancho Gonzalez - Charlie Pasarell at Wimbledon - 1969 - 112)
Longest set - 70:68 (John Newcomb - Marty Reissen at US Open-1969 - 25:23)
Most aces in a match - 112 Isner, 103 Mayu (78 for Ivo Karlovic in the 2009 Davis Cup semi-final match against Radek Stepanek)
After the tournament in Miami, Bernard Tomic from Australia and Finn Jarko Nieminen played the shortest match - a duel in which the representative of Finland won with a score of 6:0, 6:1, lasted only 28 minutes and 20 seconds - the tennis community remembered the craziest records on the court. The German newspaper Bild cited 11 such unusual achievements.
1. The longest match in Grand Slam history took place at Wimbledon in 2010. Frenchman Nicolas Mayu and American John Isner, fighting in the first round, spent 11 hours and 5 minutes on the court. At the same time, the fight was interrupted twice due to the onset of darkness. As a result, Isner won - 6:4, 3:6, 6:7, 7:6, 70:68! In women, a similar record was set by Italy's Francesca Schiavone and Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the one-eighth final of the Australian Open in 2011, they played 4 hours and 44 minutes. The Italian won with a score of 6:4, 1:6, 16:14.
2. German Steffi Graf on June 4, 1988, in the final of Roland Garros, defeated 17-year-old Natalia Zvereva, representing the USSR, in just 32 minutes - 6:0, 6:0.
3. The longest Grand Slam final was the men's singles final match at Open Championship Australia-2012. The meeting lasted 5 hours 53 minutes and ended with the victory of the Serb Novak Djokovic over the Spaniard Rafael Nadal - 5:7, 6:4, 6:2, 6:7, 7:5.
4. The largest number of innings right through was recorded in the longest match - between the American Isner and the French Mayu in the first round of Wimbledon 2010. John Isner made 112 aces, while Nicolas Mayu - 103. Both he and the other exceeded the achievement of the Croatian Ivo Karlovic - on his account 78 innings right through in one match.
5. Croatian Goran Ivanisevic has the most aces in a season: in 1996, he filed right through 1477 times. Similar statistics have been kept since 1991. More than a thousand aces, in addition, another Croatian - Ivo Karlovic (1318 in 2007) and the American Andy Roddick (1017 in 2004).
6. The longest exchange of blows was recorded on March 12, 1988. Tennis players R. Kapp and V. Dyuggan kept the ball in play for 3 hours and 33 minutes in a match held in Santa Barbara. At the same time, the ball flew over the net 6202 times. Among the women, the longest exchange of blows was the ball in the match between Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner, held in October 1984 in Richmond. 29 minutes tennis players threw the ball over the net - they exchanged blows 643 times. In total, the fight lasted 6 hours and 22 minutes, while only the tie-break lasted 1 hour and 47 minutes.
7. With the highest speed of the ball, again, the Croatian Ivo Karlovic completed the serve - 251 km per hour. The tennis player succeeded on March 5, 2011 in the doubles match of the 2011 Davis Cup in Zagreb, in which the Croats met with the Germans. However, the unofficial record belongs to the Australian Samuel Groth - on May 9, 2012, the ball sent by him at the Challenger series tournament in South Korea, developed a speed of 263 km per hour. Among tennis ladies, the official record for serving speed belongs to an American, Williams' older sister, Venus. She sent the ball at a speed of 207.6 km per hour, which was recorded at the US Open in 2007. The unofficial achievement of the same American is 209 km per hour (in Zurich-2008 and Tokyo-2013). Dutch Brenda Schultz filed just as quickly in 2006 in Cincinnati. Among the "unrecognized" records is the service performed by the German Sabina Lisicki in the competition in Bali. The representative of Germany performed a "service" at a speed of 210 km per hour, however, due to a technical error in the device that measures the feed speed, the record was not recorded.
8. Most big number double faults in one match were made by Russian Anna Kournikova (now Kournikova has dual citizenship - Russian and American - ed.). Anna set an anti-record in the second round of the 1999 Australian Open, playing against Japanese Mio Saeki. Kournikova made 31 double faults, but won - 1:6, 6:4, 10:8.
9. Swiss Roger Federer has won 24 consecutive finals at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournaments. After losing for the last time in the final in Gstaad in 2003 to the Czech Jiří Novak, Federer went undefeated in the final matches until the final ATP championship in 2005. Then he lost to the Argentinean David Nalbandian.
10. The best balance - the ratio of wins and losses - was established by an American of Czech origin Martina Navratilova in 1983 - 86:1. She lost only to Cathy Horvath (USA), then the 33rd racket of the world, with a score of 4:6, 6:0, 3:6 in the fourth round of Roland Garros. In men, a similar achievement was submitted to the American John McEnroe in 1984 - 82:3.
11. The highest number of spectators at the Grand Slam tournament was in Melbourne Park at the Australian Open - on January 22, 2005, 60,669 people attended the competition.
