First, who's gonna win?
Second, what are the implications for the tournament timetabling if this match goes well into tomorrow afternoon
Third, what kind of rule should be implemented to curtail such ridiculously long games in the future?
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First, who's gonna win?
Second, what are the implications for the tournament timetabling if this match goes well into tomorrow afternoon
Third, what kind of rule should be implemented to curtail such ridiculously long games in the future?
I don't see this match finishing any time soon. I think the only way we were going to get a result was if Isner, on the verge of fainting, lost the energy on his serve. Now that the match is suspended until tomorrow, I think we're going to be back to square one, with both players equally fresh. This match could potentially go on past 100-100, in which case, I imagine the tournament will have to continue into a third week.
In future, I think the 5th set at slams should continue to 20 games all before a tiebreaker has to be played. This would allow for epics like the Wimbledon final last year but avoid the ridiculous sort of match that we're seeing here.
Isner has the edge because he serves first. Perhaps he will take advantage of that fact tomorrow.
I think the tournament will consider a change but I doubt they will change. I would like to see an endpoint. I have seen some matches go into the 20's that captivated my interest. I would like to see 30-30 and then a tiebreak.
1) Isner even when he looked like he was going to fall over his serve was unbreakable.
2) The tournament officials are constantly dealing with rain so they have experience in keeping everything on schedule
3) This isn't going to happen very often so I see no need to place any restrictions and even if it did happen a lot I think it would be like a slap in the face to the players to have such a great contest ended in a tiebreak.
I see Isner pulling through somehow. I'll tell you what the both of them should do. Try something different when trying to break. It will be harder for Mahut, but Isner should be slapping the ball when every chance he gets.
Personally, I think this is great. The uniqueness of the match has piqued interest in something other than the Federer/Nadal banter. Good for these two guys grabbing some of the spotlight. They are both playing quite well especially on serve and are displaying an incredible amount of mental fortitude. Who is going to blink first? What a nail biter! This is nuts!
Poor Mahut to served to save the match 60 some times!
He sure didn't balk with the service portion, Isner just hit some fantastic shots for winners to close it out