On June 22, 2010, two professional tennis players walked onto Court 18 at Wimbledon for what appeared to be a routine first-round match. John Isner of the United States and Nicolas Mahut of France had no idea they were about to make history. Three days later, after 11 hours and 5 minutes of play spread across three separate days, the tennis world had witnessed something it had never seen before and may never see again. The Isner vs Mahut longest tennis match ever played became an instant legend, not just in the sport of tennis but in the broader world of athletics.

Day One: A Slow Build Toward Something Extraordinary

The match began on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. The opening sets were competitive but moved at a normal pace. Isner, known for his powerful serve, won the first set 6-4. Mahut responded by taking the second and third sets 6-3 and 7-6 respectively. Isner then claimed the fourth set 7-6 in a tiebreak. At this point, the match looked like it could go either way, and no one watching had any sense that they were witnessing the beginning of something unprecedented.

Play was suspended on day one due to darkness with the fifth set locked at 59 games apiece. The scoreboard at Wimbledon, which had never needed to go that high, simply ran out of space to display the numbers.

Day Two: The Record Books Begin to Fall

When the players returned on June 23, the fifth set resumed and just kept going. The two players matched each other serve for serve, with neither man willing to break. On this day alone, spectators watched record after record fall in real time. The match surpassed the previous record for the longest tennis match ever played, which had stood at 6 hours and 33 minutes. Then it kept going.

Wimbledon does not use tiebreaks in the final set, which meant there was no mechanism to end the fifth set until one player broke the other’s serve. Isner was serving at 118 miles per hour on average throughout the match, making his service games nearly impossible to crack. Mahut, equally dominant on his own serve, refused to give an inch. The crowd on Court 18 grew from a handful of curious spectators to a packed, electric atmosphere as word spread through the grounds.

By the end of day two, darkness forced another suspension with the score standing at 59 games all in the fifth set.

Day Three: The End of an Era-Defining Battle

The players returned for a third consecutive day on June 24. The fatigue was visible on both men, yet somehow the quality of tennis remained remarkably high. Finally, after the fifth set reached 70-68 in Isner’s favor, the longest tennis match in history was over. Isner won the match with a final scoreline of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68.

The fifth set alone lasted 8 hours and 11 minutes, which was longer than the previous record for an entire match. The total number of games played was 183, and the two players combined for 216 aces across the entire contest. Mahut alone hit 103 aces, a record in itself for a single match.

The Numbers Behind the Isner vs Mahut Longest Tennis Match

The statistics from this match belong in a category of their own. The fifth set produced 138 games, which is more than most professional matches contain in their entirety. Isner finished with 113 aces, while Mahut recorded 103. Together, the two players served over 1,000 points during the match. The total duration of 11 hours and 5 minutes across three days crushed the previous record by nearly five hours.

Both players required medical attention during the match. Their bodies were pushed to the absolute limit, and the mental endurance required to keep competing at that level for that length of time was something sports psychologists would later describe as almost incomprehensible. Despite the physical toll, both men conducted themselves with remarkable sportsmanship throughout, earning the deep respect of everyone who witnessed the event.

What Happened After the Match Ended?

Exhausted and emotionally drained, Isner faced his next opponent just one day later and lost in straight sets. No one was surprised. What was surprising was how quickly Mahut returned to the tour and continued competing at a high level. The match left both men with a permanent legacy in the sport, and they were welcomed with standing ovations at tournaments around the world in the weeks that followed.

The Wimbledon scoreboard from Court 18, which displayed the iconic 70-68 final set score, was preserved and put on display at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. It remains one of the most visited exhibits in the museum to this day.

Why the Isner vs Mahut Match Will Never Be Forgotten

The Isner vs Mahut longest tennis match ever played changed conversations around the rules of the game. Wimbledon eventually introduced a final-set tiebreak rule in 2019, meaning a match like this can never happen again under modern rules. A tiebreak is now played at 12 games all in the final set at Wimbledon, which ended a tradition that had stood for over a century.

This rule change was debated heavily in tennis circles. Purists argued that the drama and endurance of a final set without a tiebreak was one of the sport’s defining qualities. Reformers pointed to the physical damage that extended matches can cause and the logistical challenges they create for tournament scheduling. The Isner vs Mahut match was the ultimate argument for both sides of that debate simultaneously.

A Moment That Transcended Sport

What makes this match so enduring in the public imagination is not just the numbers. It is the human story at its center. Two professional athletes, neither of whom was a household name before June 2010, found themselves locked in a contest that refused to end. They kept returning to that court, day after day, driven by competitive instinct and sheer willpower. The crowd that gathered around Court 18 grew to thousands, many of whom had abandoned their plans to watch the famous names on Centre Court just to witness history being made in the most unlikely of settings.

The Isner vs Mahut longest tennis match ever played is a reminder that sport, at its best, produces moments that cannot be scripted or predicted. It is a story about endurance, character, and the strange beauty of a contest with no predetermined end. Decades from now, when people talk about the greatest moments in tennis history, this match will always be part of that conversation.