Yikes.
Talk about stamina and patience.
A 3-day tennis match.
I am sure there is a lesson here, but I am not sure at this moment what it is.
John Isner and Nicholas Mahut started their first round tennis match at the 2010 Wimbledon championship late in the afternoon on Tuesday, June 23. After splitting the first four sets, the match was suspended during the fifth and final set due to darkness. The players picked it up where they left off the following day, but the famous fifth set dragged on. As you know, to win a set, you have to win by two games….
On June 24th, after drawing even at 59 games apiece, the match was once-again suspended due to darkness.
On June 25th, the 3rd day of the match, Isner finally pulled clear and won the match 70-68. The match had lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Can you imagine concentrating on one tennis match for 3 days and over eleven hours?
Isner had 113 aces in the match. Mahut had 103. Why neither of these players could put the other away after so many games is a mystery. I am not sure anyone has tried to analyze or explain this amazing sports story.
If I had been a fan attending the match, I would have been on my 17th hot dog and 32nd beer. I am sure I would have been passed out or sick or so sunburned from watching this spectacle, I would not have cared who had won.
I am not sure that Isner (winner) and Mahut (loser) will be long remembered by the sports fans of the world.
SSOMG tips its hat to their determination, their concentration, their stamina, and their attitude.
I am sure I would have immediately quit the sport at the end of the match and gone into something much easier and with more immediate gratification, maybe something like land sales.
Sports Stories of My Generation 