The world’s longest tennis match finally ended at Wimbledon Thursday when John Isner claimed the incredible fifth set of a three-day epic against Nicolas Mahut 70-68 after 11 hours and five minutes on court.
The American 23rd seed ended the contest with a backhand passing shot after another hour of play on Court 18 after the match had resumed at 59-59 in the deciding set after it was stopped by bad light Wednesday.
“I am a little bit tired,” an elated Isner said in an on-court interview.
“When you play a match like this with an atmosphere like this you don’t feel tired. This crowd was fantastic.”
“The guy (Mahut) is an absolute warrior. I want to share this day with him, it was an absolute honour. I wish him the best and see him somewhere down the road and it won’t go 70-68.”
Isner completed an eye-watering 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 first-round victory with every vantage point taken by a packed crowd on Court 18.