An unending saga: 6-4,3-6,6-7,7-6,51-51 and still counting

John Isner of the US and Nicolas Mahut of France were involved in the longest match on record in tennis history.

John Isner of the United States and Nicolas Mahut of France were involved in the longest match on record in tennis history. Their first-round match at Wimbledon had already lasted more than eight-and-a-half hours breaking the record of 6 hours,33 minutes set in a 2004 French Open match between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement at the time of going to print.

Isner and Mahut have played more than 100 games in the fifth set alone. They resumed playing on Wednesday at the start of the fifth set; the match was suspended because of darkness Tuesday night after four sets.

All the attention wasnt on Roger Federer for once. Federer progressed to the third round at Wimbledon by beating Serbian qualifier Ilija Bozoljac 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-4 7-6 (5). Meanwhile,on Court No.18,Isner and Mahut were making a mockery of records. They had finished at 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 on Tuesday.

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However,if anyone was looking for a quick finish between these two,it was not to be. The fifth set alone had lasted over four hours,with neither player ready to concede an inch. Neither player had dropped serve in the fifth set,which alone was approaching six hours,although Mahut had saved match points when serving at 32-33.

At the time of going to press the fifth set was locked on serve with the score tied at 51-all. Mahut had two break points at 50-50 but Isner to inch ahead as shadows started appearing across the courts.