USA & England Qualify At World Cup & History Is Made At Wimbledon

Yesterday was just one of those days that rarely comes around in the sporting world. There was some fantastic football (soccer) played at the World Cup in South Africa and the US team sent the nation soccer crazy when they scored the decisive goal against opponents Algeria, nearly two minutes into added time.

It was crazy stuff. The US had knocked on the door several times during the match but were defied by some goalkeeping heroics and then by the woodwork. As we approached the end of the match, it looked like the US were going to go out at the group stages but Landon Donovan’s dramatic stoppage time goal not only secured a deserved victory but also took the US to the top of the group over England.

In the England v Slovenia, it was a similar story. England created several opportunities to score more than the one goal but failed to take them. Ultimately it cost them the chance to win the group. In the other games played yesterday Australia beat Serbia 2-1 and Ghana lost 1-0 to Germany. So in that group it’s Germany topping the group and they now play England on Sunday, while Ghana are now set to face the US on Saturday.

Talking of England, some amazing scenes were seen at Wimbledon. It’s hard to really write about what happened because it was so extraordinary and the history books have now well and truly been re-written.

At 2.00pm GMT John Isner and Nicolas Mahut set foot on Court 18 to resume their match from the previous night. The match was delicately poised as they walked off the Court last night due to play being suspended through bad light,  so when they resumed they were tied at 2 sets all and going into the fifth deciding set.

John Isner

In an astonishing afternoon, Isner and Mahut battled it out with each other and the record books saw record after record broken. Some 10 hours into their game they again left the court for the evening, again bad light stopping play, tied at an amazing 59 games each! Yes, 59 GAMES EACH! Play was officially suspended at 9.10pm GMT by officials although both Isner and Mahut wanted to go on!

Nicolas Mahut

The previous sets had gone 6-4 Isner, 6-3 Mahut, 7-6 Mahut, 6-7 Isner and no-one expected this game to drag on for much more than an hour and a half. To still be going all those hours later was astounding and speaks levels of these guys concentration and fitness. So today they get to go again and to build yet more records. Currently Isner has made 98 aces in the match while Mahut has 94.

So, we’re in hour 10 of this amazing match. The previous record was six hours and thirty three minutes set at the French Open in 2004 when Fabrice Santoro beat fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14.

Another record to tumble was the most games in a match, which had stood at 112 in singles and 122 in doubles. We’re currently at 163 games in this match!

The Wimledon record has also been put in its place as a 1969 singles match between American’s Pancho Gonzalez and Charlie Pasarell ended up 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9 and lasted a mere five hours and twelve minutes.

Further, the record number of aces served by one player in a match has now been broken by both players. The previous record was by Croatian Ivo Karlovic in a 2009 Davis Cup match where he hit 78 aces.

So, whoever wins this game is sure to be tired but they can at least draw some comfort from the fact that opponent Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker had a relatively hard game in defeating Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 16-14.

After today’s feats the players commented:

Isner: ” Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever” while a drained Mahut simply said “We played for too long.”

But the spectators weren’t so convinced at they yelled “We want more”.

So more it is… make sure you watch. You’re unlikely to ever see anything like this again. Here’s the stats so far…

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