When John Isner and Nicolas Mahut took to Court 18 at Wimbledon five years ago on June 22, they had no idea their first round match would conclude two days and 183 games later.
The pair played the longest match in tennis history, in both time and number of games, as they hung on to their own serves by tooth and nail until Isner finally prevailed over his French opponent 6–4, 3–6, 6–7 (7–9), 7–6 (7–3), 70–68.
The match was suspended for darkness on both June 22 and June 23 and it finally concluded on this day back in 2010 giving the match a total time of 11 hours and five minutes. The final set alone lasted eight hours and 11 minutes.
Other memorable events on this day…
1968: Joe Frazier TKOs Manuel Ramos in two rounds for the heavyweight boxing title.
1974: India are bowled out for a humiliating 42 at Lord’s in 77 minutes. It was their all-time lowest Test score.
1990: Ayrton Senna makes his 100th start in Formula One at the Mexican Grand Prix.
2012: The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee announce that Saudi females will be allowed to take part in the Olympics for the first time in history.
