Isner triumphs as marathon match finally ends

LONDON - John Isner won a three-day battle as he finally brought an end to the longest ever tennis match with his

6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-3), 70-68 defeat Thursday of Nicolas

Mahut at Wimbledon.

The first-round thriller lasted had lasted exactly 10 hours when it was stopped due to darkness after the fourth set on Tuesday and at 59-59 in the fifth set Wednesday.

The total time of the unbelievable, surreal contest was finally clocked at 11:05 hours. Each player served in excess of 100 aces, a feat which will never be duplicated in tennis in its current form.

Isner served 112 aces while Mahut, a qualifier, fired 103.

The end mercifully came as the number 148 Frenchman cracked, unable to reach an Isner down-the-line winner which earned the American his fifth match point.

Another winner marked the end with both exhausted and drained competitors hugging at the net as the enormity of the contest began to slowly sink in.

So special was the moment that the All England Club organised a gift presentation from former champion Ann Jones and Tim Henman for both players - and long-suffering Swedish chair umpire Mohammed Lahyani, who also sat through the entire ordeal.

“I was tired,” deadpanned Isner. “But when you come out and play a match like this in this atmosphere you don’t feel tired - even though that’s exactly what we both were.

“The crowd was fantastic. What more can I say, the guy’s a warrior,” Isner said of Mahut. “It’s too bad someone had to lose.

“But I’m proud to share the day with Nicolas, it was an absolute honour. Maybe down the road we’ll meet again - but it won’t go 70-68.”

Isner was reserving judgement on whether he would bother with his doubles first-round due to have started later Thursday.

He and Mahut and Lahyani were posed in front of the historic scoreboard on court 18 to record the impossible result for history.

“At this moment, it’s really painful,” said Mahut, who won a qualifying match 24-22 last week. “But I was as amazing to play today.

“The crowd was completely fantastic. John served unbelievable, he’s a champion. We played the greatest match ever at the greatest place ever to play tennis.”

Mahut said he didn’t bother to notice that 65 times in the final set he was serving to stay in the match, with Isner always serving first in the final chapter.

“I only thought around winning the point, the game I was in,” said the Frenchman. “I just kept doing that, again and again. It was a tough match but one we both enjoyed.

The final day of play was a mere 65 minutes in a contest which has shattered multiple records including longest time, longest set, most

aces, most games and on and on and on.

The final set alone lasted 8:11 hours, almost two hours longer than the previously longest match ever, 6:33 between between Frenchman Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement at the 2004 French Open.

Isner now has a day to wait for his delayed second-round match against Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands, who won his own first-rounder on Wednesday 16-14 in the fifth set.