Longest tennis match records

This article details longest tennis match records by duration or number of games. The 1973 introduction of the tiebreak reduced the opportunity for such records to be broken. However, among the Grand Slams, only the US Open uses the tiebreak in the fifth set; the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon instead use the advantage set rules in the fifth set. This allowed, for example, the record-smashing Isner v. Mahut match at Wimbledon 2010.

All time

The longest professional tennis match, in terms of both time and total games played, was the Wimbledon 2010 first round match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of June, 2010, lasting 11 hours and 5 minutes, with a total of 183 games. It lasted that long, but still didn't manage to make te The fifth set of the match, lasting 138 games, played over 8 hours 11 minutes, was also the longest set in history by both time and games. In addition, this match set duration records for:

• Longest play in a single day: The first 118 games of the fifth set, played on 23rd of June 2010, lasted 7 hours and 6 minutes. This time is longer than the entire Nelson-Hepner match (below) and any other match in tennis history.
• Most games in a single day: 118, on the 23rd of June.

The longest women's match (by time) took place in 1984, when Vicki Nelson took 6 hours, 31 minutes to defeat Jean Hepner 6–4, 7–6(11). The match featured a 29-minute, 643-shot rally, the longest in professional tennis history. This match is also the longest professional match completed in a single day; the Mahut-Isner match was twice suspended by darkness, lasting three days.

Doubles records

• Longest doubles match by time: In a 2002 Davis Cup semifinal tie, Lucas Arnold/David Nalbandian defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov/Marat Safin in 6 hours, 20 minutes 6–4, 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 19–17.
• Most games in a doubles match before the introduction of the tiebreaker: In the American Zone Final of the 1973 Davis Cup, the United States team of Stan Smith and Erik Van Dillen took 122 games to defeat the Chile team of Patricio Cornejo and Jaime Fillol 7–9, 37–39, 8–6, 6–1, 6–3.
• Most games in a doubles match after the introduction of the tiebreaker: In 2007 at Wimbledon, the team of Marcelo Melo and André Sá took 102 games to defeat the team of Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett 5–7, 7–6(4), 4–6, 7–6(7), 28–26.

Australian Open

Men

Longest match by time played
2009 semifinals, 5 hours and 14 minutes
Rafael Nadal	64	6	77	61	6
Fernando Verdasco	77	4	62	77	4

Longest singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1927, 71 games
Gerald Patterson	3	6	3	18	6
John Hawkes	6	4	6	16	3

Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
2003 quarterfinals, 83 games
Andy Roddick	4	7	4	6	21
Younes El Aynaoui	6	6	6	4	19

Note: The fifth set is also the record for longest set ever played at the Australian Open.

Women

Longest match by time played
2010 first round, 4 hours and 19 minutes
Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	77	68	6
Regina Kulikova	65	710	3

Note: This is also a record for all women's Grand Slam events in the open era, and is believed to be the second-longest women's match of all time.

Longest singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1956, 33 games
Mary Carter Reitano	3	6	9
Thelma Coyne Long	6	2	7

French Open

Men

Longest match by time played
2004 fourth round, 6 hours, 33 minutes
Fabrice Santoro	6	6	65	3	16
Arnaud Clément	4	3	77	6	14

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1951 semifinal, 76 games
Eric Sturgess	10	7	8	5	9
Ken McGregor	8	9	6	7	7

Longest match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring 1994 second round, 71 games Ronald Agénor 64 62 6 6 14 David Prinosil 77 77 3 4 12 2004 fourth round, 71 games Fabrice Santoro 6 6 65 3 16 Arnaud Clément 4 3 77 6 14 2010 first round, 71 games Lukas Lacko 4 77 77 65 12 Michael Yani 6 65 64 77 10

Longest singles final by games, before introduction of the tiebreaker
1927, 61 games
René Lacoste	6	4	5	6	11
Bill Tilden	4	6	7	3	9

Longest doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction 1934, 63 games Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon 11 6 2 4 9 Jack Crawford and Vivian McGrath 9 3 6 6 7 1971, 63 games Arthur Ashe and Marty Riessen 6 4 6 6 11 Tom Gorman and Stan Smith 8 6 3 4 9

Women

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1972 third-round match, 56 games
Kerry Melville Reid	9	4	16
Pam Teeguarden	7	6	14

Longest singles final match by number of games
2001, 39 games
Jennifer Capriati	1	6	12
Kim Clijsters	6	4	10

Longest doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1955, 50 games
Beverly Baker Fleitz and Darlene Hard	7	6	13
Shirley Brasher Bloomer and Patricia Ward Hales	5	8	11

Mixed doubles

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1956, 38 games
Nicola Pietrangeli and Shirley Brasher Bloomer	9	6	6
Robert Howe and Lorraine Coghlan Robinson	7	8	2

Wimbledon

Men

The 2008 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal lasted 4 hours 48 minutes and is the longest singles final by time played.

Longest match by time and number of games
2010 first round, 183 games, 11 hours and 5 minutes. This is the longest professional tennis match ever played
John Isner	6	3	67	77	70
Nicolas Mahut	4	6	79	63	68

Longest singles final match by time played
2008, 4 hours and 48 minutes
Rafael Nadal	6	6	65	68	9
Roger Federer	4	4	77	710	7

Longest singles final match by number of games
2009, 77 games
Roger Federer	5	78	77	3	16
Andy Roddick	7	66	65	6	14

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1966 first round, 98 games
Nikki Pilic and Gene Scott	19	12	6	4	9
Cliff Richey and Torben Ulrich	21	10	4	6	7

Longest doubles final match by number of games, using tiebreaker scoring
1968, 70 games
John Newcombe and Tony Roche	3	8	5	14	6
Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle	6	6	7	12	3

Women

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1948 second round, 54 games
A. Weiwers	8	14	6
Rita Anderson	10	12	4

Longest singles final match by time played
2005, 2 hours and 45 minutes
Venus Williams	4	77	9
Lindsay Davenport	6	64	7

Longest singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1970, 46 games
Margaret Court	14	11
Billie Jean King	12	9

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1933 first round, 48 games
Pat Brazier and Christabel Wheatcroft	11	5	9
Mildred Nonwiler and Betty Soames	9	7	7

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction 1933, 38 games Simone Mathieu and Elizabeth Ryan 6 9 6 Freda James and Billie Yorke 2 11 4 1967, 38 games Billie Jean King and Rosemary Casals 9 6 6 Maria Bueno and Nancy Richey Gunter 11 4 2

Mixed doubles

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1967 quarterfinals, 56 games
Ken Fletcher and Margaret Court	6	7	16
Alex Metreveli and Anna Dmitrieva	8	5	14

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1949, 48 games
Eric Sturgess and Sheila Piercey Summers	9	9	7
John Bromwich and Louise Brough Clapp	7	11	5

US Open

Men

Longest match by time played
1992, 5 hours and 26 minutes
Stefan Edberg	63	7	77	5	6
Michael Chang	77	5	63	7	4

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction 1966 third round, 105 games Marcelo Lara and Joaquin Loyo-Mayo 10 24 11 3 6 Manuel Santana and L. Garcia 12 22 9 6 2 1967 quarterfinals, 105 games Cliff Drysdale and Ray Moore 29 8 3 8 6 Roy Emerson and Ron Barnes 31 6 6 6 2

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1969, 100 games
F.D. Robbins	22	9	6	8	6
Donald Dell	20	7	8	10	4

Longest singles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1949, 67 games
Pancho Gonzales	16	2	6	6	6
Ted Schroeder	18	6	1	2	4

Longest doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1946, 74 games
Gardnar Mulloy and William Talbert	3	6	2	6	20
F. Guernsey and Don McNeill	6	4	6	3	18

Women

Longest match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1898 challenge round, 51 games best-of-five-sets match
Juliette Atkinson	6	5	6	2	7
Marion Jones	3	7	4	6	5

Longest doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1920, 43 games
Eleanor Goss and Marion Zinderstein	13	4	6
Helen Baker and Eleanor "Teach" Tennant	11	6	3

Mixed doubles

Longest mixed doubles final match by number of games, before the tiebreaker introduction
1959, 48 games
Neale Fraser and Margaret Osborne duPont	7	13	6
Bob Mark and Janet Hopps Adkisson	5	15	2

Davis Cup

Longest rubber by duration
1982, USA vs. SWE. 6 hours and 22 minutes
John McEnroe (USA)	9	6	15	3	8
Mats Wilander (SWE)	7	2	17	6	6

Longest rubber by number of games
Doubles of the 1973 American Zone Final between Chile and the USA, 122 games
Americans Stan Smith and Erik Van Dillen	7	37	8	6	6
Chileans Patricio Cornejo and Jaime Fillol	9	39	6	1	3

Note: the 39-37 second set is the longest set in Davis Cup history

See also

• Tennis statistics
• Shortest tennis match records