Isner prevails over Mahut

I stayed up late last night just to finish John Isner and Nicholas Mahut’s ultra-marathon tennis match. Although Mahut seems to be the fresher one, with Isner appearing almost lethargic and obviously exhausted (if you’ve been playing for 11 hours, who won’t be?), the latter finally seized match point after three days of play. It took 11 hours and 5 minutes to determine the winner.

I feel bad for Mahut. Too bad there aren’t any dead heats in tennis.

The match is a certified classic. I’m glad that I’ve watched it live on the boob tube. Too bad we won’t be seeing any replays any time soon.

Some quotes from Isner, Mahut and the Chair Umpire after the epic match (from BBC & Wimbledon.org):

Isner on Mahut (BBC): “What more can you say? The guy’s an absolute warrior. It stinks someone had to lose. To share this with him was an absolute honour. Maybe we’ll meet again somewhere down the road and it won’t be 70-68.”

Mahut (Wimbledon.org): “At this moment, it’s really painful. But it was amazing to play these three days. We played the greatest tennis match ever at the greatest place to play tennis.”

Umpire Momaned Lahyani (BBC): “When you are so focused and every point feels like a match point you just don’t even think about eating or needing the bathroom. I travel Economy so seven hours sitting still on court is nothing.”

Additional Links

BBC Article

Wimbledon article

Blow-by-blow account of the 5th set

Photo Credits

Guardian.co.uk

Cbcsports.ca

Metro.co.uk