7/8/25: John Isner's Longest Tennis Match, MLB Draft Preview, Finding Humor in the Pain

👏 How John Isner Won the Longest Match in Tennis History 

Behind The Scenes of an 11 Hour Tennis Match

[LINK] It was the marathon of all marathons. On June 22, 2010, American John Isner and Frenchman Nicholas Mahut played a first round match at Wimbledon on Court 18. No one was paying any attention. They played four sets that day when the match was called due to darkness.

Isner and Mahut came back the next day, but the match was halted again because of darkness and the players came back for a third day. Now, everyone was paying attention. 

This was before fifth-set tiebreaker rules at majors and players had to win by two games. So Isner and Mahut played and played and played some more. Finally after three days, 11 hours and 5  minutes, Isner won the fifth set 70-68. The final set took eight hours, 11 minutes.

Isner sat down with Greg Olsen recently to talk about the exhaustion and mental toughness involved in the match. “Neither one of us went away,” said Isner. “Truthfully, being a part of that match for 11 hours was completely miserable. Super relieved that I won it at the end. You can never imagine playing a match for five or six hours, let alone 11. It was insane.”

Isner likened the mental toughness needed to play tennis at a high level to football. “You get 20-25 seconds in between points to regroup and breathe, just like in football,” said Isner. “Sometimes you’re exhausted but you just have to find a way.”