It was a first-round Men's singles match, in which the American 23rd seed John Isner played against French qualifier Nicolas Mahut.

The match began at 6:13 pm (British Summer Time, or 17:13 UTC) on Tuesday, 22 June 2010, on Court 18 at Wimbledon.

It remains, by far, the longest match in tennis history in terms of both duration and number of games.

Fellow American Andy Roddick brought take-out food for him and his coach, including "three boxes of pizza, all sorts of chicken and mashed potatoes"; Isner said later that he was so hungry he "could have eaten 12 Big Macs",[9] but reported that drinking coconut water helped him rehydrate and avoid the cramping that he had experienced in the past.

[9] The next morning, the BBC reported that Mahut had been practising and Andy Murray informed them that Isner had been running on a treadmill before play resumed.

At 30–30, Isner passed Mahut at the net with a difficult inside-out forehand from the middle of the court that landed just inside the line.

[11] Lahyani said afterwards that he was so "gripped by the amazing match" that his concentration stayed solid and he did not think about eating or going to the toilet.

[17] Mahut subsequently donated memorabilia from the match for display at the International Tennis Hall of Fame's Museum in Newport, Rhode Island.

[21] As the winner, Isner advanced to the second round where, on the day following the conclusion of his match with Mahut, he played Thiemo de Bakker on 25 June at 12 pm on Court 5.

It was the shortest men's Wimbledon match at that point in 2010,[23] and Isner failed to serve a single ace.

[24] Isner was visibly exhausted and required medical treatment for neck and shoulder problems throughout the match.

[32] Former players and commentators have called the match historic and unlikely to happen again; many also praised both participants.

[36] Mahut revealed that following the match, he spent three months suffering from depression and a back injury.

[38][39] In October 2018, three months after another marathon match featuring Isner – this time against Kevin Anderson in the semifinals of 2018 Wimbledon, which Anderson won 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(9–11), 6–4, 26–24 after 6 hours and 36 minutes, the All England Club announced that Wimbledon would be introducing a rule change to prevent such long matches occurring in the future.

This point was determined following a review of matches in the previous 20 tournaments and a consultation with players and officials.

[40] The rule was first used in the singles in the 2019 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, after their fifth set ended that way.

[41] In 2022, it was announced that all Grand Slam tournaments (and even the Olympics) would collectively trial a new 10-point tie-break where scores reach 6–6 in the final set; prior to this, the French Open had been the last tournament to exclude tie-breaks from the final set.

[42] In lieu of an in-person reunion, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut celebrated their anniversary via social networks.

An a cappella performance of "Isner & Mahut" recorded in 2010 appears on Bern's album Live in New York.

[44] HBO released a mockumentary in 2015 titled 7 Days in Hell, starring Andy Samberg and Kit Harington as two professional tennis players who face off in what becomes the longest match in history.

This match also has a mention in Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer's 2016 song "Open String" from the album There's a Rumpus Going On.

An episode of SB Nation's Rewinder on 9 July 2022, focuses on the match and the background and context as to how it happened.

[55] The previous official record for duration was set at the 2004 French Open when Fabrice Santoro defeated Arnaud Clément 6–4, 6–3, 6–7(5), 3–6, 16–14, in 6 hours, 33 minutes.

[56] The unofficial record of 6 hours, 40 minutes, was set on 25 February 2009, when Chris Eaton defeated James Ward 6–3, 6–2, 6–7(3), 2–6, 21–19 in a playoff match to represent the Great Britain Davis Cup team in a 2009 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I second round tie versus Ukraine.

[58] This surpassed Ivo Karlović's 78 aces that he served on 18 September 2009 in a Davis Cup match against Radek Štěpánek.

The length of the match exceeded the total playing time of Serena Williams in every round combined in winning the previous year's Ladies Wimbledon title.

[61][62] The fifth set of the match was covered by Xan Brooks of the Guardian on their Wimbledon Live Blog[63] and continued the following day by Nicky Bandini.