Longest Tennis Match Ever: Isner-Mahut at Wimbledon 2010

Both tennis stars John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are accomplished in their own rights. They can add the longest tennis match in history to their resumes.

The 2010 Wimbledon Championships was the perfect setting for the longest tennis match in history. While some matches tend to goto a fifth set or see plenty of back and forth, forcing the action into the next hour after hour, the Isner-Mahut meeting was on an entirely new level. The sport of tennis had seen nothing like it before. Day three action kicked off at 3:40 pm on a Thursday at Wimbledon.

John Isner would win the longest tennis match in history by taking the fifth set 70-68 over Nicolas Mahut. The final set totaled 8 hours and 11 minutes. All in all, the entire match between the two tennis stars lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, spanning across three days of action at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.

That same year at Wimbledon, Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal would take the title on the men’s singles side. American legend Serena Williams would claim the title on the women’s singles side. Williams, who is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, has a total of seven titles in women’s singles at the Wimbledon Championships. Maybe only Roger Federer, who has eight titles on the men’s singles side, has seen a more impressive career at the grand slam. As for Isner and Mahut, only Isner would advance after the longest match in history. He would, however, enter his second round meeting visibly tired and exhausted from the three day battle with Mahut.