10+ Longest Tennis Matches Ever

The Longest Matches of All Time

Although they’re not always the most entertaining to watch, the longest tennis matches hold a special place in the record books. In this section, we’re covering the longest men’s and women’s matches of all time.

Men’s

On June 24, 2010, John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 in an epic first-round Wimbledon match that took place over the course of 3 days lasting 11 hours and 5 minutes.

It all started on June 22, when the pair began playing on court No. 18 and split sets at two-all before officials suspended the match due to fading daylight with a match time of 2 hours and 55 minutes.

On June 23, play continued for an additional 7 hours and 5 minutes until John and Nicolas reached a tie score of 59-59 in the fifth set when officials once again halted the match due to lack of natural light.

Finally, on the third day, John Isner reached a break point with a score of 68-69 before claiming victory with a backhand passing shot down the line to win 70-68 after a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes of play.

It was such an event that Wimbledon held an impromptu award ceremony on the court after the match to commemorate the moment. Eventually, they even hung a plaque on the south wall of court No. 18 to celebrate the longest match in history.

If you’re wondering how the score in games reached so high in the fifth set, it’s because up until 2019, Wimbledon used an advantage scoring for the last set of all matches at the tournament, where a player must win by two games to take the match.

In 2019, tournament officials at Wimbledon changed the format where players would play a seven-point tiebreak at 12-12 in the final set. Then, in 2022, they again changed to a 10-point tiebreak at 6-6 in the last set, which makes it unlikely anyone will ever break this record.

Women’s

The longest format for a professional women’s tennis match is best of three sets, even at Grand Slam tournaments, so they’re typically shorter by design. Despite that, the longest women’s match ranks as the fifth longest of all time – men’s or women’s.

In September 1984, Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner squared off at the Central Fidelity Banks International in Richmond, Virginia, for a match that lasted 6 hours and 31 minutes. Vicki prevailed as the winner, 6–4, 7–6 (13-11), which is remarkable in its own right.

For a two-set match to last that long is shocking, especially when all the other matches on our list of the longest for women went to three sets. However, this match also holds two additional records.

First, it’s the longest-ever women’s match completed in a single day. Second, it featured the longest point in a professional tennis match.

During their meeting, one single point featured an outrageous 29-minute rally, which lasted 643 shots before Vicki took advantage of a short ball for a winner. The tiebreak alone lasted 1 hour and 47 minutes. For context, Nelson ranked No. 93 and Hepner No. 172.

According to Nelson, the point featured a ton of lobbing from both players at the baseline. However, perhaps the real champ was John Packet of The Richmond Times-Dispatch at the time, who started counting strokes during rallies because they were so long giving us the stroke count.

Fun fact. If Hepner won the point, she would have forced a third set. Instead, Nelson closed it out after two more points.

Unfortunately, a network didn’t record this match, so I don’t have a video to share.