Isner and Mahut were both very gracious despite the exhaustion and are a credit to the sport, the US and France. Congrats to John! Someone get that man a giant bottle of Gatorade and a masseuse!
138 games in that endless 5th set. Which is matematically equivalent to 11 and a half sets that went to 6-6. So instead of a 5 set match, this was in a sense the equivalent of a 15 or 16 set match. Yet both players somehow kept drilling over 100 mph serves and piling up lots of aces. Yes, they both deserved that standing ovation at the end. And their place in the record books seems destined to last for all time.
The only things I can think of that are of the same order is the Triple-A baseball game about 30 years ago between Boston’s team from Rhode Island and Rochester (??). It went 33 innings. Cal Ripken, who played for Rochester, went on to demonstrate the same sort of endurance throughout his career. Wade Boggs (also a Hall-of-Famer) played for Rhode Island. The game created quite a stir across New England when it happened.
Similarly, back in the mid-1930s there was a Stanley Cup final hockey game — Detroit vs Montreal — that required the better part of SIX overtime periods to resolve, back in an era when it was hard to keep the ice in good shape at all. Essentially three full games in a row. Tough.
Isner and Mahut were both very gracious despite the exhaustion and are a credit to the sport, the US and France. Congrats to John! Someone get that man a giant bottle of Gatorade and a masseuse!
I looked these teams up on the NBA website but couldn’t find them. Are they in a foreign league?
Simply amazing.
Astounding. Incredible. What an exciting match!
138 games in that endless 5th set. Which is matematically equivalent to 11 and a half sets that went to 6-6. So instead of a 5 set match, this was in a sense the equivalent of a 15 or 16 set match. Yet both players somehow kept drilling over 100 mph serves and piling up lots of aces. Yes, they both deserved that standing ovation at the end. And their place in the record books seems destined to last for all time.
David Handy+
The only things I can think of that are of the same order is the Triple-A baseball game about 30 years ago between Boston’s team from Rhode Island and Rochester (??). It went 33 innings. Cal Ripken, who played for Rochester, went on to demonstrate the same sort of endurance throughout his career. Wade Boggs (also a Hall-of-Famer) played for Rhode Island. The game created quite a stir across New England when it happened.
Similarly, back in the mid-1930s there was a Stanley Cup final hockey game — Detroit vs Montreal — that required the better part of SIX overtime periods to resolve, back in an era when it was hard to keep the ice in good shape at all. Essentially three full games in a row. Tough.
AZUSA, My dear chap.
Please might you look up
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html
aka All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, aka Wimbledon – notably the History link,
Your trusty servant, faithfully yours, etc.
Well played azusa.