As a kid, I didn’t like Rafael Nadal.
He was too loud, too exuberant. He was my idol Roger Federer's nemesis.
13-year-old me would be flabbergasted at how he won me over. How I found beauty in his game, and character.
How I, too, would be on the losing end of a Nadal comeback.
13 years ago today, Isner-Mahut began...
- The match was stopped at two sets all on Tuesday
- At 6 hours 34 minutes, it broke the world record
- It stole headlines from the Football World Cup
- The scoreboard froze at 47-47 in the fifth set
- It was stopped again at 59-59 on Wednesday
- That evening, Andy Roddick brought pizza for Isner
- IBM spent the night fixing the scoreboard system
- John McEnroe was in attendance on Thursday
- Mahut served to stay in the match 64 times
- Isner eventually won 70-68 in 11 hours 5 minutes
- 85 matches were completed in the meantime
- Both players served 100+ aces, another record
- Both players spent 16,000 calories across 3 days
- Mohamed Lahyani never took a bathroom break
- A ceremony was held on court to honour them
- Mahut blacked out and showered in his clothes
- He returned to the same court that day for doubles
- Isner failed to serve a single ace in the next round
- He lost to Thiemo de Bakker in 1 hour 14 minutes
- A plaque is commemorating the match at Court 18
- Memorabilia is on display at the Tennis Hall of Fame
- Mahut published a book titled ‘The Match of My Life'
- They jointly won an award over Federer & Usain Bolt
- The odds of them facing again in 2011 were 1 of 142
- Destiny (or draw fixing?) made it happen anyway
- Isner won in three sets in 'just' 2 hours 3 minutes
- Isner & Mahut became close friends over the years
- Isner sent Mahut a card when Mahut's son was born
- HBO released a mockumentary titled '7 Days in Hell'
- 12-12 tiebreaks were introduced at Wimbledon in 2019
- Wimbledon posted the full match on YouTube in 2020
- One day I'll rewatch it, but that day hasn't come yet
- It had never happened and it'll never happen again
- I'll always remember where I was the last two days
- Thanks for the memories, @JohnIsner & @nmahut
Understand Sporting are closing in on deal to sign Hector Bellerín. There’s an agreement on permanent move plus sell-on clause for Barcelona. 🚨🟢 #transfers
Matter of hours and it will be done and sealed. Bellerín will replace Pedro Porro who’s gonna join Tottenham.