For those of us that watch tennis regularly we can expect an average three-set match to last around an hour and a half, 30-40 minutes or so per set
Of course, put a top seed against a debutant and it can all be over in a jiffy. Then again, when you have two players on a par with each other
We can expect it to go on somewhat longer, and if we’re talking about a major tournament like Wimbledon, then we could be taken into a fifth set and significantly longer viewing time.
World number 24 John Isner is best known to many fans, particularly in Great Britain and those searching for information about things like this
For his astonishing contest with Nicolas Mahut on Court 18 at Wimbledon in 2010.
That match spanned 11 hours and five minutes, with Isner, then number 10, eventually triumphing 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 in an astoundingly long final set.
The 665-minute victory was spread out over three days beginning on 22 June and concluding on 24 June, with play having to be stopped twice due to a lack of natural light.
Big serves after big serves entertained and thrilled the various selections of onlookers who needed numerous refills of strawberries and cream.
More than 100 aces were fired down by each player, while 168 consecutive holds of serve were witnessed.
Such was the unexpected nature of the match length that the electronic scoreboard stopped functioning at 47-47 in the fifth set as, fairly understandably, it had not been programmed to keep scores beyond that point.
The American finally broke Mahut’s serve in the 138th game to prevail and progressed to the, wait for it, second round of the prestigious tournament.
The fifth set alone lasted eight hours and 11 minutes, a little longer than the average match length I mentioned before.
All four tennis majors involve matches in the men’s competition that are the best of five sets. The big difference with Wimbledon is that it is the only one played on grass.