Longest_tennis_match_records

Longest tennis match records

Longest tennis match records

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This article details longest tennis match records by duration or number of games. The 1970–1973 introduction of the tiebreak reduced the opportunity for such records to be broken. However, among the four majors, the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon (since 2019) use the tiebreak in the final set, while the French Open, through 2021, was the only major to use the advantage set rules in the final set, which allows for an indefinite number of games until one player is ahead by two. A 2022 rule change now requires every Grand Slam tournament, even the Olympics (since 2021), to use the tiebreak in the final set.

A plaque commemorating the Isner–Mahut match on Court 18 at Wimbledon.

All competitions

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Overall

Longest matches by duration

John Isner (top) defeated Nicolas Mahut (bottom) 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 in a record 11 hours and 5 minutes

Only two professional competitive matches have lasted longer than seven hours and 14 matches have lasted longer than six hours.[1]

More information #, Duration (hh:mm) ...


Longest matches by number of games

More information #, No. of games ...

Men's singles

  Winner of the match also won the tournament.

The Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships holds the record for the longest tennis match both in time and games played. It lasted for 11 hours and 5 minutes.[12]

More information #, Duration (hh:mm) ...

Women's singles

The longest women's match (by time) took place at a tournament in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, when Vicki Nelson took 6 hours, 31 minutes to defeat Jean Hepner 6–4, 7–6(13–11). The match featured a 29-minute, 643-shot rally, the longest in professional tennis history, though no video exists of this point.[13][14]

Unlike men's singles matches, where Grand Slam events are still played over the best of five sets, all women's matches are now played as the best of three sets. All matches since January 1, 2019 have been checked, but there are likely to be many more from earlier years which have not yet been recognised, especially as qualifying matches in ITF tournaments before that date would normally have been played over the best of three tie-break sets.

Where different sources give durations for a particular match, the shortest elapsed time will be the one noted below.

  Winner of the match also won the tournament.
More information #, Duration (hh:mm) ...

The longest match consisting of two standard sets and a match tie-break was played in the second qualifying round of a $25,000 ITF tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 9, 2023. Valentina Mutilba defeated Luciana Blatter 6–7(7–9), 7–6(12–10), [10–7]. The official ITF live scoring data recorded the duration as three hours and 44 minutes,[30] but SofaScore and TNNS both recorded three minutes less.[31][32]

  1. The fourth-longest match listed above was recorded in the ITF live scoring data as taking 5 hours and 4 minutes.[17] SofaScore recorded 4 hours and 54 minutes and TNNS recorded 4 hours and 55 minutes. The shortest of these has been included in this table.
  2. The sixth-longest match listed above was recorded in the ITF live scoring data as taking 4 hours and 50 minutes.[20] SofaScore recorded 4 hours and 46 minutes and TNNS recorded 4 hours and 47 minutes. The shortest of these has been included in this table.
  3. The eighth-longest match listed above was recorded in the ITF live scoring data as taking 4 hours and 53 minutes.[24] The shorter time, recorded by both SofaScore and TNNS, has been included in this table.
  4. The ninth equal-longest match listed above was recorded in the ITF live scoring data as taking 4 hours and 47 minutes.[27] SofaScore recorded 4 hours and 42 minutes and TNNS recorded 4 hours and 43 minutes. The shortest of these has been included in this table.

Doubles

Longest doubles matches by time
More information #, Duration (hh:mm) ...
Longest doubles matches by number of games
More information #, # of Games ...

Australian Open

Men's singles

Longest match by time played
2012 final, 5 hours and 53 minutes
Serbia Novak Djokovic 566657
Spain Rafael Nadal 742775
Also the longest grand slam singles final in the Open Era.
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
More information singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
2017 first round, 84 games
Croatia Ivo Karlović 6637622
Argentina Horacio Zeballos 7865220

Men's doubles

More information doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...
More information doubles final match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring ...

Women's singles

Francesca Schiavone won the longest ever match at a women's Grand Slam event in 4 hours 44 minutes.
Longest match by time played
2011 fourth round, 4 hours and 44 minutes
Italy Francesca Schiavone 6116
Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova 4614
Also the longest women's match in a Grand Slam in the Open Era,[23] and the second-longest women's match in the Open Era.[35]
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1996 quarterfinals, 48 games
United States Chanda Rubin 6216
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4614
2018 third round, 48 games
Romania Simona Halep 4615
United States Lauren Davis 6413
More information singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Women's doubles

More information doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Mixed doubles

More information mixed doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...
More information mixed doubles final match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring ...

French Open

Arnaud Clément (pictured) lost the longest ever match at the French Open to Fabrice Santoro in 6 hours 33 minutes. He expressed his disappointment at losing the match which until 2010 held the record for the longest ever match stating: "Frankly, I don't give a damn ... What world record? Do I get a medal? If I'm not getting anything, frankly, I'm not interested. It doesn't count."[37]

Men's singles

Longest match by time played[38]
2004 first round, 6 hours and 33 minutes
France Fabrice Santoro 6665316
France Arnaud Clément 4377614
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
2012 second round, 76 games
France Paul-Henri Mathieu 6266318
United States John Isner 7744616
More information singles final match by time played ...
Longest singles final by games, before introduction of the tiebreaker[38]
1927, 61 games
France René Lacoste 645611
United States Bill Tilden 46739

Men's doubles

Longest men's doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction[39]
1934, 63 games
France Jean Borotra
France Jacques Brugnon
116249
Australia Jack Crawford
United States Vivian McGrath
93667
1971, 63 games
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Marty Riessen
646611
United States Tom Gorman
United States Stan Smith
86349

Women's singles

Longest match by time played[40]
1995, 4 hours and 7 minutes
France Virginie Buisson 6376
France Noëlle van Lottum 7752
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1991 second round, 46 games
United States Linda Harvey-Wild 796711
Peru Laura Gildemeister 67799
More information singles final match by number of games ...

Women's doubles

More information doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Mixed doubles

More information tiebreaker introduction ...

Wimbledon

Men's singles

The 2019 Wimbledon Men's final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic lasted 4 hours 57 minutes and is the third longest singles final by time played.

Longest match by time and number of games[43]
2010 first round, 183 games, 11 hours and 5 minutes.
United States John Isner 63677770
France Nicolas Mahut 46796368
This is the longest professional tennis match ever played.[43]
More information singles final match by time played ...
More information singles final match by number of games ...
Longest singles semifinal match by time and number of games[46]
2018, 99 games, 6 hours and 36 minutes
South Africa Kevin Anderson 786569626
United States John Isner 6677711424

Men's doubles

More information doubles final match by time played ...
Longest match by time played
2006 quarterfinals, 6 hours and 9 minutes
The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
5665623
Sweden Simon Aspelin
Australia Todd Perry
7377321
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring[10]
2007 third round 102 games
Brazil Marcelo Melo
Brazil André Sá
57747928
Australia Paul Hanley
Zimbabwe Kevin Ullyett
76466726
More information doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Women's singles

Longest match by time played[47]
1995 second round, 3 hours and 45 minutes
United States Chanda Rubin 776517
Canada Patricia Hy-Boulais 647715
Note: The Bud Collins History of Tennis incorrectly lists this match as having occurred in 1996
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1995 second round, 58 games
United States Chanda Rubin 776517
Canada Patricia Hy-Boulais 647715
More information singles final match by time played ...
More information singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Women's doubles

More information tiebreaker introduction ...
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
1967 final, 38 games
United States Billie Jean King
United States Rosemary Casals
966
Brazil Maria Bueno
United States Nancy Richey Gunter
1142

Mixed doubles

More information tiebreaker introduction ...
More information tiebreaker introduction ...

US Open

Stefan Edberg's (pictured) 1992 victory over Michael Chang 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–4 in 5 hours 26 minutes remains the longest match at the US Open.

Men's singles

Longest match by time played[50]
1992, 5 hours and 26 minutes
Sweden Stefan Edberg 6377756
United States Michael Chang 7756374
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1979 second round, 63 games
United Kingdom John Lloyd 56777
Australia Paul McNamee 77566
More information singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...
More information singles final match by time played ...
2012, 4 hours and 54 minutes
United Kingdom Andy Murray 7127236
Serbia Novak Djokovic 6105662

Men's doubles

More information tiebreaker introduction ...
1967 quarterfinals, 105 games
South Africa Cliff Drysdale
South Africa Ray Moore
298386
Australia Roy Emerson
Brazil Ron Barnes
316662
More information doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Women's singles

Longest match by time played[52]
2021, 3 hours and 40 minutes
Spain Rebeka Masarova 6977711
Romania Ana Bogdan 7116269
2021, 3 hours and 40 minutes[53]
Belgium Elise Mertens 37777
Sweden Rebecca Peterson 66565
Note: The above two matches were played on the same day (31 August) and started at almost exactly the same time.[54][55]

Best-of-five-sets system:

More information tiebreaker introduction ...

Best-of-three-sets system:

Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1985 quarterfinal, 39 games
West Germany Steffi Graf 767
United States Pam Shriver 676

Women's doubles

More information doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Mixed doubles

More information mixed doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction ...

Summer Olympics

Overall

More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring[57][59][60]
2012 second round, 66 games (3 h 57 min)
France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6325
Canada Milos Raonic 3623
Note: Match played on 31 July 2012. Beating the previous record of 61 games set during the five set doubles final in 1988. The third set also set a record for most games played in a set at an Olympics, beating the previous record set at the 2004 Summer Olympics by Fernando González and Taylor Dent, 30 games, by 18 games.
Longest match by time played, after the tiebreaker introduction[57]
1992 first round, 5 h and 53 min (56 games)
Germany Boris Becker 3775776
Norway Christian Ruud 6627623
Note: Tsonga vs. Raonic above (best-of-three-sets system) was longer by number of games.

Men's singles

Best-of-three-sets system:
Longest match by time played[61][62]
2012 semifinals, 4 h and 26 min (58 games)
Switzerland Roger Federer 37719
Argentina Juan Martín del Potro 66517
Note: Match played on 3 August 2012. This is also the longest best-of-three-sets men's singles match ever played in the Open era (with or without a tiebreaker in the final set).
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring[57][59][60]
2012 second round, 66 games (3 h 57 min)
France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6325
Canada Milos Raonic 3623
Note: Match played on 31 July 2012. Beating the previous record of 61 games set during the five set doubles final in 1988. The third set also set a record for most games played in a set at an Olympics, beating the previous record set at the 2004 Summer Olympics by Fernando González and Taylor Dent, 30 games, by 18 games.
Best-of-five-sets system:
More information tiebreaker introduction ...
Longest match by time played, after the tiebreaker introduction[57]
1992 first round, 5 h and 53 min (56 games)
Germany Boris Becker 3775776
Norway Christian Ruud 6627623
Note: Tsonga vs. Raonic above (best-of-three-sets system) was longer by number of games.

Men's doubles

Longest match by time played[57]
2008 semifinals, 4 h and 44 min (59 games)
Sweden Simon Aspelin
Sweden Thomas Johansson
78419
France Arnaud Clément
France Michaël Llodra
66617
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring[63]
2012 second round, 63 games
Brazil Marcelo Melo
Brazil Bruno Soares
1624
Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych
Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
6422
Note: This match was played on 1 August 2012, only a day after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Milos Raonic set the record of 66 games in a best-of-three-sets match.

Women's singles

Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1988 second round, 42 games
Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko 63779
United Kingdom Sara Gomer 77637
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
2004 first round, 42 games
Argentina Paola Suárez 77659
France Nathalie Dechy 61777

Women's doubles

Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring[57]
1988 first round, 63 games
Canada Carling Bassett-Seguso
Canada Jill Hetherington
710520
Argentina Mercedes Paz
Argentina Gabriela Sabatini
68718

Mixed doubles

More information tiebreaker introduction ...

Davis Cup and Fed Cup

Davis Cup

More information rubber by duration ...
More information rubber by number of games (singles) ...
More information rubber by duration ...
More information rubber by number of games (doubles) ...

Fed Cup

More information rubber by duration ...
More information rubber by number of games (singles) ...
More information rubber by duration ...
More information rubber by number of games (doubles) ...

Tour Finals

ATP Tour Finals

Best-of-five-sets system:

More information singles final match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring ...
Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring[69]
1986 round robin, 57 games
France Guy Forget
France Yannick Noah
66377
United States Mike de Palmer
United States Gary Donnelly
74665
1987 round robin, 57 games[69]
United States Paul Annacone
South Africa Christo van Rensburg
77247
Australia Peter Doohan
Australia Laurie Warder
66666

Best-of-three-sets system:

Longest match by time played[70]
2016 semi final, 3 hours 38 minutes
United Kingdom Andy Murray 577711
Canada Milos Raonic 76569
This was the longest match since 1991 when times were first recorded.

WTA Tour Finals

Best-of-five-sets system:

Longest match by time played[71][72]
1990 final, 3 hours and 47 minutes
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles 65366
Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 47642

Best-of-three-sets system:

Longest match by time played[73]
2012 round robin, 3 hours and 29 minutes
Poland Agnieszka Radwańska 6676
Italy Sara Errani 7854
Longest match by number of games[73]
2017 round robin, 37 games
United States Venus Williams 7637
Latvia Jeļena Ostapenko 5775

See also


References

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