The longest tennis matches in history
Can a tennis match last several days? Throughout the 20th century, we saw tennis matches that lasted longer than usual. Now, in the 21st century, we have seen opponents with better skills, so the trend of the longest tennis matches continues.
Usually, a tennis match lasts between two and three hours, although there may be exceptions. In fact, there have been observed matches that have lasted almost eleven hours. So below we will recall and discuss some of the longest tennis matches in history.
In recent years tennis players have become more and more experienced, so we are increasingly seeing matches lasting around six hours. Players have now become more evenly matched on the pitch, so it's not unusual for matches to last longer than expected.
The longest tennis matches of the 20th century
One such legendary tennis match took place at Wimbledon in 1969 between American tennis players Pancho Gonzalez and Charles Pasarel. In this match, Gonzalez played 112 games and lost the first two sets, but eventually managed to defeat his opponent.
According to www.tennisavisen.dk, tie-breaks were introduced shortly afterward to prevent the sets from being so long.
In 1982, John McEnroe won a Davis Cup match over Mats Wilander, a 17-year-old Swede who had just won the French Open. which lasted at least 6 hours and 22 minutes. With this victory he broke the old record for this tournament, playing and winning all 12 matches.
In the 21st century
In French tennis players Arnaud Clement and Fabrice Santoro in 2004 broke the record for the longest Grand Slam match in the Open era (6 hours 33 minutes).
The match, which ended in Santoro's victory, began on Monday but was interrupted by a lack of light as they led 5-5 in the fifth set.
At the end of the 2005 Tennis Master Cup tournament, Argentine David Nalbandian and Swiss Roger Federer played for four and a half hours. The Argentine eventually won the title, breaking the Swiss' winning streak of 24 consecutive finals.
A year later, in 2006, there was another longest tennis match. This time Knowles and Nestor played against Aspelin and Perry at Wimbledon. The match lasted 6 hours and 9 minutes and lasted two days as it went dark and the deciding set ended 23-21.
Later, in 2009, the British team decided to let their players face each other to decide who should be on the team against Ukraine in the Davis Cup match.
It all went wrong as it took Chris Eaton 6 hours and 40 minutes to beat his teammate. It was so tiring that the Ukrainian could have easily beaten him, so Ukraine won convincingly 4-1.
This year, Radek Stepanek played 5 hours and 59 minutes in the Davis Cup semi-final against Ivo Karlovic. There were four tie-breaks in that match and the final set ended 16-14 with the Czech player Radek Stepanek winning.
Despite Karlovic's 78 aces, he failed to take home the win, but at least it gave him the world record for aces.
A record that still stands
In 2010, John Isner broke the record for the longest tennis match in history by beating Nicolas Macha after 11 hours and 5 minutes at Wimbledon.
The match lasted three days, with the second day being the longest because they played 7 hours without a break. The Americans won the final by 70-68 points. Apart from the record for the longest game, they also broke other records:
- The highest number of aces in a match, 216.
- The longest set of 8 hours and 11 minutes.
- The highest number of points in a match with 980.
- The highest number of points scored by a player in a match with 502 at
- Mahut, who actually lost the match.
In recent years, the incredibly longest tennis match took place in 2015. In the Davis Cup match, Leonardo Mayer and Joao Sousa played for 6 hours and 43 minutes, finishing in the deciding game at 15:13.
Playing these matches put a lot of physical and mental strain on the players because the championship is decided quickly and at the same time they are tired from the other matches they played just two or three days before.
But for people who love sports, watching a long tennis match is a pleasure.
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