Longest tennis match in history isn't finished yet

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the unprecedented length of a first-round tennis match at Wimbledon, which reached a score of 59-59 in the fifth set. Participants share their observations and reactions to the match's duration, conditions, and the players' performances, highlighting the physical and mental challenges faced during such an extended contest.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express astonishment at the match's length, noting that ten hours of play is extraordinary.
  • Others comment on the physical conditions, mentioning the warm and humid weather and how it affects endurance during long matches.
  • There is a suggestion that the match could have continued with artificial lighting, which some believe might have altered the outcome.
  • Several participants discuss the players' strategies, particularly the effectiveness of serves under fatigue, indicating that the server maintained an advantage as energy levels waned.
  • One participant reflects on their own experiences with long matches, drawing a parallel to a humorous anecdote about a series of ties in rock-paper-scissors.
  • Updates on the match score are shared, indicating ongoing developments and the players' resilience.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express amazement at the match's duration and the players' performance, but there is no consensus on whether the match conditions could have been improved or how the players managed to maintain their level of play. The discussion remains open-ended regarding the implications of such an extended match.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various factors such as weather conditions and player fatigue, but these points are not fully explored or resolved, leaving room for further discussion on their impact on the match.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in sports, particularly tennis, and those curious about endurance in athletic competitions may find this discussion engaging.

jtbell
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A first-round match at Wimbledon has gone to 59-59 in the fifth set. They started playing yesterday, got suspended because of darkness, resumed today and got suspended because of darkness again. They've been at it for ten hours so far!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/tennis/06/23/isner.mahut.ap/index.html
 
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Good lord.
 
And it was warm and quite humid today (I live close to Wimbledon). I was out running for about 40 min earlier this evening (while they were still playing) and that was more than enough. 10 hours is just insane
 
They should have continued with light bulbs... Too bad they can rest for so long. It wouldn't have lasted so long if they had played continuously.
 
Were you watching? By the end, whenever someone was getting close to being broken (which wasn't often, something like 6 break points the whole day) the server would just dig up a solid 120 mph serve (which was faster than most at that point) and the other guy would be helpless. They needed to stop because nobody had the energy to break by the end
 
Office_Shredder said:
Were you watching? By the end, whenever someone was getting close to being broken (which wasn't often, something like 6 break points the whole day) the server would just dig up a solid 120 mph serve (which was faster than most at that point) and the other guy would be helpless. They needed to stop because nobody had the energy to break by the end
Yep! Brutal. When the server gains that much edge due to lack of reflex and response of the receiver, it can be tough. Lots of players can come up with an impressive serve when needed, but be unable to run cross-court, volley, etc in order to salvage a point.
 
Thats amazing. I've watched plenty of tennis matches that went quite far into the fifth set, but somebody always falters before it gets too far into it. Unbelieveable how consistently these guys played.
 
Wow! I'm definitely curious to see when that ends.
 
They're supposed to resume on Court 18 sometime after 15:30 local time, 10:30 AM in the eastern US. I don't have cable or satellite TV (only terrestrial broadcasts), but it looks like it will be streamed on espn3.com for people in the US.
 
  • #10
Looks like they are both still going strong - 61:61.

Edit - 63:63.
 
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  • #11
This is almost as good as this one time me and two other people had a 3 way tie in rock paper scissors like 7 times in a row. What are the chances of that?

Well they weren't all 3 way ties, but one of us would choose rock, the other scissors and the other paper, so we had to redo it. That happened like 7 or 8 times in a row.
 
  • #12
67:67
 
  • #13
Isner 70:68
 
  • #14
Borek said:
Isner 70:68

Ouch, it would hurt to lose a match after all that. Well I'm sure the winner hurts too.
 
  • #15
Here's the final scoreboard, with Isner and Mahut standing next to it.
 

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