Friday, June 17, 2011

Wimbledon - Mahut gets Isner re-match at Wimbledon

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have been drawn against each other in the first round for Wimbledon, which begins on Monday.
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American Isner and Frenchman Mahut set the record for the longest tennis match in history when they met in the first round 12 months ago at the All England Club.
The 23rd seed Isner eventually triumphed 11 hours and five minutes later, beating wildcard Mahut 6–4 3–6 6–7(7) 7–6(3) 70–68 over the course of three days.
The match began at just after six o'clock on Tuesday evening, with play continuing for almost three hours before being suspended due to bad light.
The players resumed at 2pm the next day, and played right through until ten past nine in the evening when it was suspended once again at 59 games all in the fifth set, with the conclusion taking place on the Thursday with a final one hour and five minutes of play before the American won thanks to a forehand right on the line followed by a backhand passing shot.
The match broke every endurance record in the sport: the longest match, the greatest number of games (183), the greatest number of aces in a match (216) and the longest set ever played (eight hours 11 minutes). That fifth set alone would have been the longest match in tennis history all on its own.
Fourth seed Andy Murray will open his campaign against world number 56 Daniel Gimeno-Traver. The Scot has won both of his previous two meetings with Spaniard Gimeno-Traver.
Murray faces a potential quarter-final clash against American Andy Roddick before coming up against top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals if the seedings play out. Nadal beat Murray in straight sets in the last four 12 months ago.
French Open champion Nadal will open his account against American Michael Russell.
Second seed Novak Djokovic, who has lost just the one match so far this year, in the French Open semi-finals, will take on Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the opening round while Roger Federer was drawn against Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin.
Former champion Lleyton Hewitt, who is unsure of his participation after suffering a foot injury in Eastbourne this week, was drawn against talented youngster Kei Nishikori.

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