Nicolas Mahut played for 11 hours and five minutes over three days in a first-round match that ended 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68—and earned as much prize money for his effort as Go Soeda, who won just eight games in a straight-sets loss at Wimbledon. Mahut was ultimately undone by John Isner in the longest tennis match in history. But that’s not how anyone who watched even one of the match’s 183 games viewed it afterward.
“Of course, everyone will always ask me what happened during this match,” said Mahut two weeks later at The Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.
“I know it will stay with me throughout my career. It’s a nice feeling. I thought people would come up to me and say, ‘You lost this match,’ but no, they’re coming to me and saying, ‘I never seen something like this before. It’s just amazing. You both deserved to win.’ It’s just a great feeling.”
The fifth set of the Isner-Mahut marathon alone—138 games in duration—eclipsed the previous record for most games played in a singles match, 112. (In 1969, when Pancho Gonzales beat Charlie Pasarell 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9.) Both men broke the record for most aces in a match (previously 78) with Isner booming 112 and Mahut 103. They played a total of 980 points. For the 28-year-old, 148th-ranked Mahut, no other challenge will ever compare to his Wimbledon war with Isner.
“From what I did at Wimbledon,” said Mahut, “I can’t just come out on the court and say, ‘It’s too hot or I’m getting bad bounces.’ Now nothing’s too difficult after the match I played there. Either you play or you stay in the locker room. You just fight and try to do your best.”
When asked whether he still thinks about the match, Mahut smiled and said, “Every minute. Even when I sleep I’m dreaming about this match, so it’s a crazy story. Sometimes I win when I dream about it.”
Mahut, who won the third set of his second-round qualifying match 24-22 at the same tournament, donated the outfit he wore during the record-smashing affair to the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport in a ceremony before the tournament began.
“This match is the best moment of my career, maybe my life, and also the worst,” the 11-year ATP tour veteran said. “It’s still really painful, it really is, but I’m also really proud to be in the Hall of Fame Museum and the Wimbledon Museum.
“I took a picture on my phone, and sent it to my friends, ‘Hey, look, I’m in the Hall of Fame Museum.’ It means a lot to me. To be honest, I feel really thankful when I think about it. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”