On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 23rd-seed American John Isner faced off against French qualifier Nicolas Mahut in round one of Wimbledon. The match would not end until Thursday, June 24th, with Isner finally scoring match point to defeat Mahut, after 11 hours of play, and advancing to the second round. A fairly insignificant match on a side court (Court 18) when it began, by the time it was over, after an epic eight-hour fifth set that began on Wednesday, everyone was watching. Of the 183 total games in the match, the fifth set alone required 138. The players broke the record for longest tennis match on Wednesday; the two-day final set alone took longer than the previous record holder. Even the scoreboard couldn’t keep up, as it was designed to go only as high as 47-47 (the fifth set of the Isner-Mahut match ended at 70-68). If you have 11 hours and 5 minutes to spare, you can watch the entire match here.

Not shockingly, Isner went on to swiftly lose his second-round match in straight sets; usually dangerous due to his vicious, record-setting serve, Isner failed to score a single ace against his well-rested second-round opponent. The man was exhausted! For his part, Mahut, equally spent, also lost his next match (doubles play). But the two men will always share the record for the longest match, as a rule change was implemented to avoid such marathons in future. Both players also went on to very successful tennis careers, with Isner retiring in 2023 and Mahut retiring at the end of the 2025 season.

I said above that by the time Thursday rolled around, everyone was watching Isner and Mahut battle on the far end of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, but I lied. I was not watching. I, in fact, had never even heard of this until I scrolled across this sweet video of Mahut and his son after Mahut’s third-round loss in the 2019 French Open:

I’m not the only one who Googles “heartwarming sports moments” when feeling down, right?

That led me to learn about the record-setting three-day match, and now here we are. Oh! And you’ll be happy to know that the equally-exhausted chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, also made a full recovery, has been commemorated alongside Isner and Mahut, and went on to a long tennis career as well (albeit not without controversy).

Mohamed Lahyani is all of us in 2025.

The 2025 French Open began today, so consider cheering for Nicolas Mahut in his final French Open.

Have a record-setting Night Thread, Avocados, and stay hydrated!

ETA: A hat tip to Mayelbridwen for pointing us towards this increasingly loopy live-blog of the Isner-Mahut match (starting at the 3:45pm entry).