Longest Tennis Match Ever: Isner-Mahut at Wimbledon 2010

Second round action at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships put John Isner against Thiemo de Bakker. Isner was exhausted after finishing the longest tennis match ever recorded.

De Bakker, who had a somewhat lengthy first round match himself, had nothing on Isner who was coming off of the longest tennis match in history. The towering American could not keep up during their second round meeting. De Bakker would ultimately take their meeting in just over 72 minutes. At the time, the match was the shortest in Wimbledon men’s history. Isner fell in straight sets, losing 0–6, 3–6, 2–6 to Dutch tennis player.

Both John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are immortalized at the Wimbledon Championships. The American would have yet another lengthy meeting with South African Kevin Anderson in 2018, prompting the tournament to institute a tie-break ruling in an effort to prevent this from happening again. There is no telling what either Isner or Mahut could have been capable of during the rest of their time at the Wimbledon Championships.

Isner has since reached the semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships, making it that far in 2018. Mahut made a fourth round run at the 2016 event. Looking at their career head to head singles action to date, Isner leads Mahut 3-1. Both players proved themselves and then some after completing the longest tennis match in history.