Longest Grand Slam tennis matches in history including John Isner v Nicolas Mahut

There are few more compelling sporting spectacles than a marathon tennis match.

A game which demands both extreme physical endurance and mental fortitude at the highest level, there have been some truly epic battles on the court on both the ATP and WTA Tours over the years.

We examine the longest tennis matches ever recorded in Grand Slam competitions.

ATP Tour

Longest ever Grand Slam matches

3) Fabrice Santoro v Arnaud Clement - 6h 33m

2004 French Open (First Round)

An all-French affair which would go down in history at Roland Garros, Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement could not have possibly imagined how their first round tie at the 2004 French Open would unfold.

Spanning two days, Santoro eventually defeated Clement 6-4 6-3 6-7 3-6 16-14.

This match featured a total of 71 games, the most in the French Open since the introduction of tiebreaks in 1973.

Following his victory, Santoro reported how he began having difficulty breathing as the epic encounter progressed.

Santoro was admirably able to win his second round match against Irakli Labadze the following day, before being eliminated by Oliver Mutis in the third round.

2) Kevin Anderson v John Isner - 6h 36m

2018 Wimbledon (Semi-final)

Two of the biggest servers in the history of the sport, Kevin Anderson and John Isner engaged in a Wimbledon semi-final for the ages in 2018.

In a match which featured 99 games and three tiebreakers, South African Anderson came out on top 7-6 6-7 6-7 6-4 26-24.

The final set lasted almost three hours on its own, with this semi-final becoming the longest match ever recorded on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Anderson took on Novak Djokovic in the 2018 Wimbledon final, succumbing in straight sets to the Serbian great.

This famous match between Anderson and Isner prompted a Wimbledon rule change, which meant tiebreaks would be played should a final set reach the score 12-12.

This rule was updated again in 2022, with all Grand Slam tournament matches now going to a 10-point tiebreak should the score reach 6-6 in the final set.

1) John Isner v Nicolas Mahut - 11h 5m

2010 Wimbledon (First Round)

Every bit a war of attrition, the 11-hour marathon match between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010 will live long in the memory for tennis fans across the world.

This gruelling encounter lasted three days, with the scoreboard having to be fixed after it stopped working at 47-47 in the final set.

23rd seed Isner eventually broke Mahut's serve to win the defining set 70-68, with this famous match becoming the longest in tennis history by over four hours.

So exhausted was the American that he went on to lose his second round match to Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker in just 74 minutes, a record itself at the time.

WTA Tour

3) Virginie Buisson v Noelle van Lottum - 4h 7m

1995 French Open (First Round)

Roland Garros played host to a women's tennis classic in 1995 as French wildcard entrants Virginie Buisson and Noelle van Lottum played out a thriller in the first round in Paris.

A match which lasted over four hours, it was Buisson who made it through to the second round with a 6-7 7-5 6-2 victory.

The Frenchwoman would not progress any further in Paris, however, as she was eliminated in straight sets by ninth seed Kimito Date in the second round.

2) Barbora Strycova v Regina Kulikova - 4h 19m

2010 Australian Open (First Round)

In a match in which the first two sets went to lengthy tiebreaks, Barbora Strycova edged Regina Kulikova 7-6 6-7 6-3 in the second longest women's Grand Slam tennis match of all time.

Kulikova was miraculously able to save seven match points in the second set, but it was not enough as Czechia's Strycova came on strong in the decisive third.

Strycova's tournament was not to last much longer, however, with the 2019 Wimbledon semi-finalist losing to Dinara Safina in the subsequent round.

1) Francesca Schiavone v Svetlana Kuznetsova - 4h 44m

2011 Australian Open (Fourth Round)

Two players with a staggeringly evenly matched game, Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova currently hold the record for sharing the longest Grand Slam women's tennis match by a considerable margin.

A match in which Kuznetsova had six match points, Italy's Schiavone emerged victorious with a 6-4 1-6 16-14 win in Melbourne.

A back-and-forth thriller, with a vast number of absorbing rallies, both players required regular treatment at the side of the court in order to get through the final set.