Longest Tennis Match Ever

[MICrophone]

All right. I don't know how many of you are into tennis. But this is gotta be one of the most interesting stories in sports in a long time. Wimbledon is one of the four major tournaments in tennis. It is held in England (and maybe London) every year. The first round kicked off on Monday. Yesterday, a first round match between the 23rd seed John Isner and the unseeded Nicholas Mahut kicked off at around 6:00 in the evening Wimbledon time…

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In order for you to understand the full significance of what is about to happen, you need to know the basics of scoring. In order to win a match in men's tennis, you must win three sets, meaning that the maximum number of sets in a match is five. In order to win a set, you must win six games but also must win by two, meaning that if you are tied at five games a piece you must win seven games.

In the first four sets, if you are tied at six games, you play a tiebreaker to win the set. You must win seven points and must win by two in order to win a tiebreak.

At Wimbledon, however, there is no tiebreaker in the fifth set. You must win by two games, no matter how many games are played.

A game consists of four points. You must also win a game by two.

So this all sets the stage for…

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…so the match kicked off yesterday. The two men played four sets and split them, each taking two. Three hours had elapsed and it was a little after 9:00, so they suspended the match due to darkness.

That meant that the fifth set would be played today.

So they kicked off the fifth set today. Remember, there's no tiebreaker. The match went on. And on. And on. Seven games apiece. Fourteen games apiece. Soon, the record for longest tennis match ever was broken, which had been six hours and thirty-three minutes. And after nearly ten hours of play, seven hours today alone, the men are tied at 59 games apiece (118 games total) in the fifth set. This is nearly ten times the length of a normal set, which generally requires only six games to win under the condition that the set is won by two games.

Finally, they suspended the match again due to darkness, and a third day of a single match will begin tomorrow. The fact that those two men have not passed out is a bloody miracle.

So what are your thoughts on this?

[Ridder]

Holy ♥♥♥♥ Bull, that sounds epic.

More epic than Rambo 1, I say.

[Buff_]

I saw some of that game. I glanced at the TV and I wondered why there was a 41 and 7 hours of play.. o_O Then it went on.. I didn't actually watch it. but it must have been one heck of a boring game.

[MICrophone]

…boring? Are you kidding me? When they finally called the match for the day, the audience was screaming, "WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!" I only saw bits and pieces myself, but what I saw was actually really exciting…it would've been amazing watching the match through.

[YoshiKid54]

This also applied to the "Australian Open" you know.

[MICrophone]

This also applied to the "Australian Open" you know.

Wut? Australian Open is one of the four major tournaments, but the match in question is taking place at Wimbledon now…or are you referring to there not being a fifth set tiebreak? I didn't mention that cause it isn't relevant to what's going on really…

[YoshiKid54]

Yes, the Australian Open doesn't have a 5th Tiebreak. I'm sure.

[MICrophone]

OK…I don't generally remember things like that though I'm a big tennis fan…

EDIT: The match finally ended! After eleven hours and five minutes of play and 183 games, John Isner finally won 70-68 in the fifth set!

[MessengerOfDreams]

Jesus Christ with a side of Joseph and Mary. O_o

[YoshiKid54]

Also, they were awarded a prize after breaking the record. Don't know what the prize was.