The Tennis Match That Took Three Days

At Wimbledon in 2010, two players walked onto Court 18 for a first-round match. Nobody expected anything special. John Isner was an American, tall, with a powerful serve. Nicolas Mahut was French, lower-ranked, and not famous outside of tennis. Their match was scheduled for one afternoon.

Ved Wimbledon i to tusind og ti gik to spillere ud på bane atten til en førsterundekamp. Ingen forventede noget særligt. John Isner var amerikaner, høj, med en kraftig serv. Nicolas Mahut var franskmand, lavere rangeret og ikke berømt uden for tennisverdenen. Deres kamp var sat til at vare en eftermiddag.

It did not end that afternoon. It did not end the next day either.

Den sluttede ikke den eftermiddag. Den sluttede heller ikke den næste dag.

The two players began their match on Tuesday, June 22. Neither of them could break the other one's serve. They played through three sets, then four. By evening, with the score at two sets all, the umpire stopped the match because of fading light. They would have to finish tomorrow.

De to spillere begyndte deres kamp tirsdag den toogtyvende juni. Ingen af dem kunne bryde den andens serv. De spillede gennem tre sæt, så fire. Ved aftenstid, med stillingen to sæt lige, stoppede dommeren kampen på grund af dårligt lys. De måtte fortsætte i morgen.

On Wednesday, they came back. They played the fifth set, which has no tiebreak at Wimbledon. They would have to win it by two games. The score climbed: 10-10, 20-20, 30-30. Mahut held his serve. Isner held his. Eventually it reached 59-59. The crowd watched, silent, almost embarrassed. The match had to be stopped again. Light, once more.

Onsdag kom de tilbage. De spillede femte sæt, som ikke har tiebreak i Wimbledon. De skulle vinde det med to spilles forspring. Stillingen steg: ti til ti, tyve til tyve, tredive til tredive. Mahut holdt sin serv. Isner holdt sin. Til sidst nåede den ni og halvtreds til ni og halvtreds. Publikum så til, tavse, næsten forlegne. Kampen måtte stoppes igen. Lyset, endnu en gang.

On Thursday, after over ten hours on the court, John Isner finally broke the serve of his exhausted opponent. The final score in the fifth set was 70-68. The entire match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Mahut hit 103 aces and still lost.

Torsdag, efter mere end ti timer på banen, brød John Isner endelig serven hos sin udmattede modstander. Den endelige stilling i femte sæt var halvfjerds til otteogtres. Hele kampen varede elleve timer og fem minutter. Mahut slog hundrede og tre esser og tabte alligevel.

When it was over, neither player could speak well to the cameras. Both were given small medals to mark what had happened. The court itself got a small plaque added to it. Years later, it is still the longest tennis match ever played, and most people in tennis believe it will never be beaten.

Da det var slut, kunne ingen af spillerne tale ordentligt til kameraerne. Begge fik små medaljer for at markere det, der var sket. Selve banen fik en lille plade sat op. År senere er det stadig den længste tenniskamp, der nogensinde er spillet, og de fleste i tennisverdenen tror, den aldrig vil blive slået.