Tennis

Tennis, as a game, is changing. After the astonishing Isner-Mahut game at Wimbledon 2010, lasting 11 hours and five minutes and stretching 183 games, and was twice interrupted by darkness. Long games are nothing new to tennis—the longest game in a single day was the six-hour 31 minute slog in Richmond, Virginia between Vicki Nelson and Jean Harper in 1984, a game that also includes the longest rally in professional tennis history at 29 minutes, involving a staggering 643 shots. While it can be something to aim for in professional tennis to break these records, the introduction of the tie-break rule in 1973 has made it more difficult. Although it is interesting to note that of all the Grand Slam tournaments, only the US Open applies the tie-break rule to the fifth set, with the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon all using the Advantage rule in the final set, allowing for what is arguably a more gripping final set, if one that has the potential to last as long as the Isner-Mahut match did. So is this the future of tennis? While the sheer slogging match between the two drew admiring comments from such esteemed players as Nadal, Roddick, Henman, Federer and McEnroe, it is still speculated that we’ll not see the like of this again. But the Grand Slam records after the tie-break introduction are all set recently—could it be time to think about the US Open option of a fifth set tie-break? Perhaps the next few years will show us how the longevity of a single match will look in the future.