After 11 hours,Isner wins longest match ever

When John Isner finally won the longest match in tennis history,he collapsed on the Wimbledon grass.

When John Isner finally won the longest match in tennis history,he collapsed on the Wimbledon grass and then summoned one last burst of energy,springing to his feet to applaud along with the crowd.

The American hit a backhand winner to win the last of the matchs 980 points,and he took the fifth set Thursday against Nicolas Mahut,70-68. The first-round match took 11 hours,5 minutes over three days,lasting so long it was suspended because of darkness two nights in a row. Play resumed on Thursday at 59-all and continued for more than an hour before Isner won 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (3) 70-68.

The American finished with 112 aces,and Mahut had 103,with both totals eclipsing the previous high of 78. There were only three service breaks in the match,the last coming on the final point. With Mahut serving at 68-69,Isner hit a forehand winner for the first break-point chance of the day. Then he cracked the backhand winner for the victory only the third service break of the match,and the only one in the fifth set,which lasted 8 hours,11 minutes. It was by far the longest in the sports history in terms of games or time. The previous longest match took 6 hours,33 minutes at the 2004 French Open.

Grabbing attention

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The finish attracted an overflow crowd on cozy Court 18. Absent was Queen Elizabeth II,who had already left following her first visit to Wimbledon since 1977. With the queen watching from the Royal Box,Murray defeated Jarkko Nieminen of Finland,6-3 6-4 6-2. Seeded fourth,Murray is trying to become the first British player to win Wimbledon since the queen watched Virginia Wade win the womens final 33 years ago. The queen joined the applause when Murray closed out the win.

On Court 1,2004 champion Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round by beating Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-1,6-4. Seeded 16th,Sharapova won 20 of 23 points at the net. After the queen left,Caroline Wozniacki defeated Chang Kai-Chen on Centre Court 6-4 6-3. No. 7 Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Alberta Brianti 6-2 6-0,No. 10 Flavia Pennetta swept Monica Niculescu 6-1 6-1,and No. 14 Victoria Azarenka beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-1 6-4.