Thursday, June 24, 2010

Tennis has love, but no ties

Day 3 of the Wimbledon Marathon match.

The match was postponed Day 1 at the conclusion of the fourth set. Returning the following day, players Isner (USA) and Mahut (France) took the court again for the fifth and final set. As the players rallied back and forth, so did the set score. In a normal set, a tie breaker is played at 6 all; however, Wimbledon rules mandate that all 5th sets be won by a margin of 2 games, not by a tie breaker. Last year's "marathon" match in the finals between Federer and Roddick that finally closed out with a W for Federer at 16-14 in the 5th has quickly been trumped by the 59-all score posted as the players retired for a 2nd day.

I can't think of any other sports that allows the players to battle on endlessly until a clear victor emerges by a margin of two.

The Wimbledon tournament hardly ever adheres to the outline schedule, frequently interupted by showers. But this year, the sun has beamed affectionately as Isner and Mahut continue to rally for advancement.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Definitely not as epic as this instant classic, but still a valiant effort by my favorite sport:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_professional_baseball_game