Wimbledon marathon loser Mahut will give well-worn racket, shirt to tennis hall of fame

Mahut’s well-used racket headed for tennis hall

A racket and shirt Nicolas Mahut (mah-HOOT) used for his record-setting match at Wimbledon will go on display at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

The Frenchman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he will donate the artifacts when he goes to the Newport, R.I., museum for next week’s Hall of Fame Championships.

Hall spokeswoman Anne Marie McLaughlin says there will be a presentation on Saturday, before the draw party for the only professional grass-court tournament in North America.

Mahut and American John Isner (IZ-ner) played a record 11 hours, 5 minutes in their first-round Wimbledon match last week. Isner finally won the fifth set 70-68 after it had been suspended twice because of darkness.

Mahut doesn’t have to worry about another marathon in Newport. The tournament plays only three sets, with a tiebreaker.

“Is John coming?” Mahut said with a laugh. “So, yeah, it’s going to be a short match, I guess.”