They are the two players who hold tennis’ most unbeatable record but never won a singles Grand Slam between them

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The likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic set numerous records during their time on tour, although one will forever elude them.

For years, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic duked it out for the prestigious Grand Slam record, a statistic many consider a prerequisite to being considered the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time).

Djokovic holds the record with 24 Grand Slams, leading Nadal on 22, and Federer on 20.

The ‘big three’ hold several other tennis records, including most weeks spent at number one, most clay titles, and most ATP Finals titles, to name a few.

There is one record, however, that the trio couldn’t come close to, and will likely stand the test of time.

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest tennis match ever at Wimbledon in 2010

When fans took to their seats on Court 18 on Tuesday, June 22, 2010, they had no idea what they were about to witness.

A first-round match at Wimbledon between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut didn’t promise to be a classic, although they soon made history.

After Isner won the first set, Mahut won the next two, before his American opponent survived in a fourth-set tiebreaker to force a decider.

As daylight faded, the match was suspended, with the pair returning on Wednesday for the infamous fifth set.

The match soon became the longest in tennis history, as Isner and Mahut refused to give in.

Isner missed four match points on the Wednesday on Mahut’s serve, as both players surpassed the 100 ace mark, a record in its own right.

John Isner’s match points on Wednesday

• 1. When Mahut was serving at 9-10
• 2. When Mahut was serving at 32-33
• 3. When Mahut was serving at 32-33
• 4. When Mahut was serving at 58-59

At 59-59 in the fifth set, Isner/Mahut was suspended once more, as daylight faded on Wednesday.

It was reported that both players slept for just a few hours before play resumed on Thursday, looking to finally finish off their marathon match.

With both players dominating their service games as they had done throughout the match, Mahut had his first real look at Isner’s serve at 68-68, 0-30, but couldn’t convert as Isner won four points in a row to lead 69-68.

It was in the next game that the match finally reached its conclusion, when Isner hit a backhand passing shot at 30-40.

After 11 hours and five minutes, Isner defeated Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68, in the longest tennis match ever.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, umpire Mohamed Lahyani made an error when reading out the scores upon the conclusion of the match, accidentally switching the scores of the two tiebreaks.

Isner and Mahut received a crystal bowl and champagne flutes after the match, as the All England Club showed their appreciation to the history-makers on Court 18.

Remarkably, neither player was done at Wimbledon in 2010, as Isner prepared for his second-round match and Mahut turned his attention to doubles.

Mahut’s doubles match began just hours after he’d lost to Isner, but was unbelievably suspended twice, before he and partner Arnaud Clement lost in four sets, two days later.

Isner had even less in the tank for his second-round singles match, losing to Thiemo de Bakker in three sets 0-6, 3-6, 2-6 on Friday, June 25.

Losing in 74 minutes, the American had at that point competed in both the longest and shortest matches of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.

The aftermath of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut’s marathon match

The pair were unbelievably drawn to play one another again in the first round of Wimbledon in 2011, in a match dubbed Isner/Mahut 2 by fans.

Finishing the job in just over two hours, Isner breezed past Mahut 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 in the highly anticipated sequel.

Determined to make history for the right reasons, Mahut finally had his day in the sun five years later, winning the doubles title alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert in 2016.

Isner, on the other hand, continued to enjoy success in singles, making a sensational run to the last four in 2018.

On that occasion, Isner was on the receiving end of a marathon defeat, losing to Kevin Anderson, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 24-26.

Soon after, Wimbledon announced a rule change to prevent long matches from occurring in the future, introducing a tiebreak at 12-12 in the deciding set.

That rule change lasted several years before the ten-point tiebreak at 6-6 was introduced in 2022.

With the rule in place, it will be nigh-on impossible for anyone to break Mahut and Isner’s record for the longest match ever.