Tennis doesn’t have a clock, but it does have clear parameters. With no more than five sets in Grand Slam events on the men’s side, fans typically can estimate how long a match will take, even it goes the distance.
That isn’t always the case.
Time and time again, players have defied the odds on the biggest stages in tennis and turned a match into a marathon. While revised tiebreaker rules make it a bit more difficult today to play an enormously long match, the best of the best going toe-to-toe has still made for some grueling battles.
Here’s a look at the longest tennis matches in Grand Slam history.
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What is the longest tennis match ever in a Grand Slam?
The longest match in any Grand Slam event belongs to John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 — and good luck breaking their record.
Isner and Mahut went at it for 11 hours and five minutes over a span of three days, with the final set lasting eight hours and 11 minutes. The third and fourth sets both went to a tiebreaker, with Isner and Mahut appropriately each winning one, but the match still could have wrapped up at a reasonable hour if not for a marathon of a final set.
The final set lasted so long that the scoreboard at the court couldn’t handle the numbers being put up by Isner and Mahut. Programmed only to go up to 47, the scoreboard had to be worked on overnight to handle the numbers from the two players on the final day of the three-day match.
Needing to win by two games in the final set, Isner missed four match points along the way, extending the match all the way to a third day, when he finally prevailed 70-68. The defeat was painful for Mahut, but he impressively managed to hang with a player ranked 129 spots above him in the world rankings at the time.
It was a first round match, so Isner still had to overcome the exhaustion if he wanted to make a deep run. Instead, he was quickly dispatched by Thiemo de Bakker in the second round, losing 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.
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Longest tennis matches in Grand Slam history
Here are the longest tennis matches on record in the history of Grand Slam events:
| Year | Match | Tournament | Round | Time | Score |
| 2010 | John Isner def. Nicolas Mahut | Wimbledon | First | 8 hours, 5 minutes | 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 |
| 2018 | Kevin Anderson def. John Isner | Wimbledon | Semifinal | 6 hours, 36 minutes | 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 26-24 |
| 2004 | Fabrice Santoro def. Arnaud Clement | French Open | First | 6 hours, 33 minutes | 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14 |
| 2020 | Lorenzo Giustino def. Corentin Moutet | French Open | First | 6 hours, 5 minutes | 0-6, 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 18-16 |
| 2012 | Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal | Australian Open | Final | 5 hours, 53 minutes | 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 |
| 2012 | Paul-Henri Mathieu def. John Isner | French Open | Second | 5 hours, 41 minutes | 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 18-16 |
John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut (Wimbledon, 2010)
- Length: 8 hours, 5 minutes
- Winner: John Isner
- Round: First
- Score: 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68
Isner and Mahut shattered the record for longest match in tennis history in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon men’s singles tournament, going to a tiebreaker at the end of the third and fourth sets before the fifth set went all the way to a score of 70-68 in favor of Isner. The match spanned three days, required the scoreboard to undergo maintenance and pushed an exhausted Isner into the second round, where he suffered a swift, straight-sets defeat.
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Kevin Anderson vs. John Isner (Wimbledon, 2018)
- Length: 6 hours, 36 minutes
- Winner: Kevin Anderson
- Round: Semifinal
- Score: 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 26-24
Before Wimbledon implemented new rules to shorten the length of tiebreakers, Isner was involved in another marathon match in the tournament. This time, the stakes were much higher. With a spot in the final on the line, Isner battled Kevin Anderson for six hours and 36 minutes, winning the second and third sets but dropping the fourth and a long (but not unfamiliar) fifth set. An exhausted Anderson fell to Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final.
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Fabrice Santoro vs. Arnaud Clement (French Open, 2004)
- Length: 6 hours, 33 minutes
- Winner: Fabrice Santoro
- Round: First
- Score: 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14
Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement battled for six hours and 33 minutes in the first round of the 2004 French Open, setting what was a record at the time. Santoro took the first two sets and had a real chance to close out Clement in straight sets, but his fellow Frenchman battled back and forced a fifth set, where Santoro won 16-14 to reach the second round. Despite the lengthy match, Santoro won in the second round as well before falling in the third.
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Lorenzo Giustino vs. Corentin Moutet (French Open, 2020)
- Length: 6 hours, 5 minutes
- Winner: Lorenzo Giustino
- Round: First
- Score: 0-6, 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 18-16
Did a six-hour match really happen if almost no one was there to see it? The 2020 French Open was played with an extremely limited number of fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lorenzo Giustino and Corentin Moutet put on a show in the first round with a match that spanned just over six hours. Despite failing to win a single point in the first set, Giustino narrowly prevailed in the second and third sets before later winning a tense fifth set and advancing. Giustino fell to Diego Schwartzman in the second round.
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Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal (Australian Open, 2012)
- Length: 5 hours, 53 minutes
- Winner: Novak Djokovic
- Round: Final
- Score: 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5
The longest final in Grand Slam history belongs to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who played for five hours and 53 minutes with the Australian Open title on the line in 2012. The match didn’t require a prolonged tiebreaker in the fifth set. Instead, just about every game was grueling, with Djokovic nearly closing it out in four sets before Nadal narrowly survived and forced the decisive set. Djokovic ultimately won a war of attrition, defeating Nadal for the third consecutive Grand Slam final.
“Physically it was the toughest match I ever played, if not tougher. I am tired,” Nadal said after the loss, with Djokovic agreeing that it was one of the most taxing matches of his career.
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Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. John Isner (French Open, 2012)
- Length: 5 hours, 41 minutes
- Winner: Paul-Henri Mathieu
- Round: Second
- Score: 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 18-16
At this point, you start to think it might not be such a coincidence that Isner keeps finding himself in marathon matches. Isner battled Paul-Henri Mathieu for five hours and 41 minutes in the second round of the 2012 French Open, winning the second and third sets but dropping the fourth and falling 18-16 in the fifth set to bow out of the tournament despite entering as the No. 10 seed. Mathieu, meanwhile, fell in five sets to Marcel Granollers in the next round.
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Longest women’s tennis matches in Grand Slam history
Women’s singles matches top out at three sets, but three such matches in Grand Slam history have lasted more than four hours. Here are the four longest Grand Slam women’s singles matches on record:
| Year | Match | Tournament | Round | Time | Score |
| 2011 | Francesa Schiavone def. Svetlana Kuznetsova | Australia Open | Fourth | 4 hours, 44 minutes | 4-6, 6-1, 16-14 |
| 2010 | Barbora Strycova def. Regina Kulikova | Australian Open | First | 4 hours, 19 minutes | 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 |
| 1995 | Virginie Buisson def. Noelle van Lottum | French Open | First | 4 hours, 7 minutes | 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 |
| 1972 | Kerry Melville Reid def. Pam Teeguarden | French Open | Third | 3 hours, 55 minutes | 7-6, 4-6, 16-14 |
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