Locker Room Confessions: Inside the Isner-Mahut Epic

Mainad · Jun 30, 2020

Exactly 10 years ago, Wimbledon witnessed the longest match in its history (or anybody else's history) with this now legendary 1st round encounter between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut out on remote little Court 18.

Some stats:

11 hours, 5 minutes: Total match time. That’s four hours and three minutes more than the second-longest match, a Davis Cup doubles rubber between the Czech Republic and Switzerland in 2013.

8 hours, 11 minutes: Time taken to play the fifth set. You have to go to a different sport entirely for a comparison here. The longest baseball game ever played was eight hours and six minutes.

138: Games in the fifth set. That’s 26 more than have been played in any other match

215: Aces. Isner hit 112, Mahut 103. The previous record had been 78 by Ivo Karlovic

183: Total games played. That’s 71 more than the second-highest total at Wimbledon, in Pancho Gonzalez’s five set win over Charlie Pasarell in 1969

63: Times that Mahut served to stay in the match

3: Service breaks

2010: Isner outlasts Mahut in 11-hour, 183-game Wimbledon epic | Tennis.com

The longest tennis match ever took three days to complete.

www.tennis.com

You can't say Isner hasn't made his mark on Wimbledon. Because of this and other marathon matches prompted by his style of play, this most venerable and tradition-focussed of all tennis tournaments finally bit the bullet and introduced a 5th set tie-break . No more will we see stats like this posted for any future match there.

john-isner-of-the-us-frances-nicolas-mahut-and-chair-umpire-mohamed-picture-id107140482

Locker Room Confessions: Inside the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut Epic | ATP Tour | Tennis

Insiders shed new light on the record-breaking John Isner-Nicolas Mahut 2010 Wimbledon first-round epic tennis match.

www.atptour.com

Poisoned Slice · Jun 30, 2020

Lleytonstation · Jun 30, 2020

Who knows, maybe Fed beats Djoker 92-90 in the final set last year... and they finally have a bond for each other... we shall never know now... instead, we got a tie.

TheAssassin · Jun 30, 2020

Lleytonstation said:
Who knows, maybe Fed beats Djoker 92-90 in the final set last year... and they finally have a bond for each other... we shall never know now... instead, we got a tie.

A tie, which was broken, in a tiebreak. That's why it's called a tiebreak.

HetTheGreaterer · Jun 30, 2020

Fed has only himself to blame for not winning that match in straight sets, or 4 sets at stretch

Lleytonstation said:
Who knows, maybe Fed beats Djoker 92-90 in the final set last year... and they finally have a bond for each other... we shall never know now... instead, we got a tie.

Lleytonstation · Jun 30, 2020

TheAssassin said:
A tie, which was broken, in a tiebreak. That's why it's called a tiebreak.

_GOATbis · Jun 30, 2020

40-15

Mark-Touch · Jun 30, 2020

TheAssassin said:
A tie, which was broken, in a tiebreak. That's why it's called a tiebreak.

But surely you must understand what he was saying, so no need to mention a tie-break?

Federev · Jun 30, 2020

Mainad said:
Exactly 10 years ago, Wimbledon witnessed the longest match in its history (or anybody else's history) with this now legendary 1st round encounter between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut out on remote little Court 18.

Some stats:

11 hours, 5 minutes: Total match time. That’s four hours and three minutes more than the second-longest match, a Davis Cup doubles rubber between the Czech Republic and Switzerland in 2013.

8 hours, 11 minutes: Time taken to play the fifth set. You have to go to a different sport entirely for a comparison here. The longest baseball game ever played was eight hours and six minutes.

138: Games in the fifth set. That’s 26 more than have been played in any other match

215: Aces. Isner hit 112, Mahut 103. The previous record had been 78 by Ivo Karlovic

183: Total games played. That’s 71 more than the second-highest total at Wimbledon, in Pancho Gonzalez’s five set win over Charlie Pasarell in 1969

63: Times that Mahut served to stay in the match

3: Service breaks

2010: Isner outlasts Mahut in 11-hour, 183-game Wimbledon epic | Tennis.com

The longest tennis match ever took three days to complete.

www.tennis.com

You can't say Isner hasn't made his mark on Wimbledon. Because of this and other marathon matches prompted by his style of play, this most venerable and tradition-focussed of all tennis tournaments finally bit the bullet and introduced a 5th set tie-break in the final. No more will we see stats like this posted for any future match there.

Locker Room Confessions: Inside the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut Epic | ATP Tour | Tennis

Insiders shed new light on the record-breaking John Isner-Nicolas Mahut 2010 Wimbledon first-round epic tennis match.

www.atptour.com

Mahut is not sad in that photo.

He is sleeping.

Rattler · Jun 30, 2020

Federev said:
Mahut is not sad in that photo.

He is sleeping.

like we all were

Legend of Borg · Jun 30, 2020

might be slightly off topic but it does puzzle me when some people claim that if the 2019 Wimby final was played without the 5th set tiebreak, the outcome would have been different or that it would have benefited Fed

wouldn't Fed want to blitz through his opponent and end the match as soon as possible? why would it benefit him to continue grinding deep into the 5th set and continue to exacerbate the stamina disadvantage over someone like Djoker who's far more fit?

Federev · Jun 30, 2020

Legend of Borg said:
might be slightly off topic but it does puzzle me when some people claim that if the 2019 Wimby final was played without the 5th set tiebreak, the outcome would have been different or that it would have benefited Fed

wouldn't Fed want to blitz through his opponent and end the match as soon as possible? why would it benefit him to continue grinding deep into the 5th set and continue to exacerbate the stamina disadvantage over someone like Djoker who's far more fit?

Honest question...

Do you think the match revealed that Novak was “far more fit” than Federer?

I actually didn’t watch the match at all, but by the score line and what I read Fed seemed to hang in there all 5 sets w Novak - and actually came away with more points and non tie break games won.

Maybe though - the big points at the end showed Novak had a lot more gas in the tank when it mattered?

Recall also Fed had to go through Rafa to even get to Novak.

Anyway - just wasn’t sure Fed’s 6 years age difference with Novak wasn’t actually showing Fed was remarkably close in terms of fitness.

TheAssassin · Jun 30, 2020

Mark-Touch said:
But surely you must understand what he was saying, so no need to mention a tie-break?

We didn't get a tie.

I understood everything else.

Legend of Borg · Jun 30, 2020

Federev said:
Honest question...

Do you think the match revealed that Novak was “far more fit” than Federer?

I actually didn’t watch the match at all, but by the score line and what I read Fed seemed to hang in there all 5 sets w Novak - and actually came away with more points and non tie break games won.

Maybe though - the big points at the end showed Novak had a lot more gas in the tank when it mattered?

Recall also Fed had to go through Rafa to even get to Novak.

Anyway - just wasn’t sure Fed’s 6 years age difference with Novak wasn’t actually showing Fed was remarkably close in terms of fitness.

the match was strange

I was expecting him to wilt while the younger, healthier (plant based diet, health conscious, etc.) and more athletic Djoker was supposed to win out in a long grindy match which is what it turned into

thing is, Djoker looked like poo for long stretches of time while Fed wasn't letting up

I still think Fed woulda lost a regular 5th set if there was no tie-breaker

physicality and mentality are connected and the longer the match the more Fed would have mental lapses IMO

still, this match was bizzare in this respect but 9 out of 10 I would expect a long match to favor Djoker over Fed

Federev · Jun 30, 2020

Legend of Borg said:
the match was strange

I was expecting him to wilt while the younger, healthier (plant based diet, health conscious, etc.) and more athletic Djoker was supposed to win out in a long grindy match which is what it turned into

thing is, Djoker looked like poo for long stretches of time while Fed wasn't letting up

I still think Fed woulda lost a regular 5th set if there was no tie-breaker

physicality and mentality are connected and the longer the match the more Fed would have mental lapses IMO

still, this match was bizzare in this respect but 9 out of 10 I would expect a long match to favor Djoker over Fed

Agree w everything.

Federev · Jun 30, 2020

Legend of Borg said:
the match was strange

I was expecting him to wilt while the younger, healthier (plant based diet, health conscious, etc.) and more athletic Djoker was supposed to win out in a long grindy match which is what it turned into

thing is, Djoker looked like poo for long stretches of time while Fed wasn't letting up

I still think Fed woulda lost a regular 5th set if there was no tie-breaker

physicality and mentality are connected and the longer the match the more Fed would have mental lapses IMO

still, this match was bizzare in this respect but 9 out of 10 I would expect a long match to favor Djoker over Fed

As a fan it was a crushing loss to see him come so close.

But maybe instead of being so demoralized about Fed blowing it, I should give him mass kudos for just hanging in there and trying as hard he did.

BeatlesFan · Jun 30, 2020

Legend of Borg said:
someone like Djoker who's far more fit?

Post any moment in the 2019
Wimbledon final where Fed ever looked tired, winded or less fit than Djokovic. In fact, post a single point which would indicate this.

You must have missed the entire second set where Djokovic was gasping for air and looked gassed.

stringertom · Jun 30, 2020

Federev said:
As a fan it was a crushing loss to see him come so close.

But maybe instead of being so demoralized about Fed blowing it, I should give him mass kudos for just hanging in there and trying as hard he did.

He certainly hung in there betterer than 30-year-old fedr did at USO’11, going from 5-3 40-15 to losing 5-7.

I agree with eliminating a play-it-out 5th set TB for the first six rounds but the final could still be old school without affecting schedulIng and conditioning concerns that resulted in the new format nine years after the Isner Mahut fiasco. Had that match scenario happened in a SF, like the milder KAndyman Isner 2018 nightmare, stodgy Wimby would have been much quicker in their move.

RaulRamirez · Jun 30, 2020

I truly think that the 12-all deciding set was a good compromise...

One surprising think about Isner-Mahut: No tiebreaks in the first two sets - not even a 7-5 set.

Service Ace · Jun 30, 2020

Legend of Borg said:
might be slightly off topic but it does puzzle me when some people claim that if the 2019 Wimby final was played without the 5th set tiebreak, the outcome would have been different or that it would have benefited Fed

wouldn't Fed want to blitz through his opponent and end the match as soon as possible? why would it benefit him to continue grinding deep into the 5th set and continue to exacerbate the stamina disadvantage over someone like Djoker who's far more fit?

More opportunities would have only benefited Federer the longer the match went. Even after blowing that career defining lead, Fed still was giving himself break points to once again serve for the match, just wasn’t able to convert by the time the score reached 12-12.

Tiebreakers too greatly favor the player that gets out to an early lead. Once the tiebreak began, Covid was able to use the momentum he built to get there to finish the job. Up until that point however he was just barely hanging in the match.

The new tiebreak rules definitely affected the outcome of the match and will go down as an ugly bolded footnote in the downfall of Feds legacy.

ibbi · Jul 1, 2020

Mainad said:
215: Aces. Isner hit 112, Mahut 103. The previous record had been 78 by Ivo Karlovic

Accomplished in a mere 82 games (101 less than this match) on red clay. GOAT.

CYGS · Jul 1, 2020

40-15 and still salty.

SonicNirvana · Jul 1, 2020

Lleytonstation said:
Who knows, maybe Fed beats Djoker 92-90 in the final set last year... and they finally have a bond for each other... we shall never know now... instead, we got a tie.

both are too good on return for something like that to happen to them.

Fridge · Jul 1, 2020

Service Ace said:
More opportunities would have only benefited Federer the longer the match went. Even after blowing that career defining lead, Fed still was giving himself break points to once again serve for the match, just wasn’t able to convert by the time the score reached 12-12.

Tiebreakers too greatly favor the player that gets out to an early lead. Once the tiebreak began, Covid was able to use the momentum he built to get there to finish the job. Up until that point however he was just barely hanging in the match.

The new tiebreak rules definitely affected the outcome of the match and will go down as an ugly bolded footnote in the downfall of Feds legacy.

If anything the TB should have favored Fed. Instead Fed's mental fragility showed and Novak gave the arrogant British crowd what they deserved. A loss that will forever haunt Fed and every one of his despicable fans.

itrium84 · Jul 1, 2020

I just wanted to read some interesting stuff about that epic Isner-Mahut match, you guys ruined it.

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