Isner wins epic battle
The longest tennis match in history finally finished at Wimbledon on Thursday after an epic 11 hours and five minutes, with John Isner beating Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the final set.
The final score read 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. The two embraced at the net after the marathon match finally ended when American Isner sent a passing shot down the line, dropping his racquet and falling to the ground in delight.
Mahut held his head in his hands and buried his head in his towel and spent a long time sat in his chair with his head down. On the court, the All England Club gave both players and the match umpire a special momento to mark the occasion. They posed for a photograph by the scoreboard alongside the umpire.
The two began their match on Tuesday, when they managed to complete the first four sets before bad light stopped play for the first time around. Play had been called off at 59-59 at 9:10pm local time on Wednesday after 10 hours - with the fifth set already longer than the previous longest match ever played which lasted six hours 33 minutes at the 2004 French Open.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray put on a show for Queen Elizabeth II as the British fourth seed crushed Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to enter third round, that earned him a clash with French 23rd seed Gilles Simon.
Women’s third seed Caroline Wozniacki also had a smooth tide beating Taiwan’s Chang Kai-Chen 6-4, 6-3.
French 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov in five sets, while Robin Soderling, the Swedish sixth seed, beat Marcel Granollers 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.
In the women’s singles, 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova cruised into the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Romania’s Ioana Raluca Olaru.
Indian trio in round 2
Meanwhile, India’s ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Max Mirnyi sailed into the second round with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Argentine’s Maximo Gonzalez and Sebastian Prieto.
Leander Paes and Czech’s Lukas Dlouhy, seeded third, moved into second round with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 win over South African Rik De Voest and German Mischa Zverev
Sania Mirza was off to a winning start in women’s doubles as the Indian and her Dane partner Caroline Wozniacki notched up a easy 6-4, 6-1 win over local favourites Anne Keothavong and Melanie South 6-4 6-1. —Agencies
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