“We knew we were right in the middle of history and we could see no end in sight”
Before the match re-airs on ESPN2 this weekend, Hannah Storm revisits anchoring coverage of the Wimbledon 2010 marathon Isner-Mahut duel
Hannah Storm was the studio host at Wimbledon in 2010 when a seemingly routine first-round matchup started on a Tuesday and didn’t end until smashing all tennis records for length on Thursday.
American John Isner, the 23rd seed, and the French qualifier Nicolas Mahut broke all records for length of match – in terms of time (11 hours, five minutes) and number of games (183) with the 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68. In fact, the fifth set alone was longer than the previous longest match.
Fans can test their endurance with a seven-hour re-air of the epic match on ESPN2 in the overnight hours between Saturday, June 30, and Sunday July 1. The telecast will be aired Sunday, July 1, at 1:30 a.m. ET (Saturday at 10:30 p.m. PT) and continue as the players battled endlessly in first-round action that began on a Tuesday, continued Wednesday and lasted into Thursday, all on Court 18 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Here, she shares her memories of the historic, three-day match.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
ESPN’s exclusive “first ball to last ball coverage” of the 2018 Championships, Wimbledon begins Monday, July 2. The telecast will also be available after it airs on demand via ESPN+ on the ESPN App.
Samantha Baron and ESPN Production produced the videos.
