John Isner v Nicolas Mahut: the inside story of tennis's longest match
I f a film is ever made about the longest tennis match in history, it would be portmanteau style with criss-crossing storylines, all finishing up on Wimbledon's No18 Court, maybe with some apocalyptic zombies in the supporting cast.
It would obviously star a lookalike of Nicolas Mahut, the Frenchman who came through qualifying, and John Isner, the American best known for being exceedingly tall. Plus Mohamed Lahyani, the umpire. But a smart director would start with two journalists going to work that day, 15 years ago.
One would be Ronald McIntosh, a BBC commentator who had worked primarily in boxing. He had never covered a tennis match in his life. On the BBC rota, McIntosh was given Isner-Mahut because it was low key. A good one on which to cut his teeth.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Dan Osborne's £1k anniversary gift to Jac Jossa after Christine McGuinness texts – as star ‘pulls out all the stops'
IT looks like Dan Osborne and Jacqueline Jossa are giving their marriage one last shot — and Dan's pulling no punches in the romance department. The former TOWIE star splashed out over £1,000-a-night on the plush Bishopsgate Suite at London 's swanky Pan Pacific Hotel to mark their wedding anniversary in serious style. 9 9 And that was just the beginning. The loved-up pair were later spotted enjoying a posh tasting menu at celeb hotspot Ivy Asia, while Dan made sure the romance kept flowing with a surprise bouquet delivered to their home before the night even began. Insiders say Dan's grand gestures haven't gone unnoticed, with Jacqueline taking to Instagram to thank her hubby, hinting that things might finally be back on track. A source close to the couple said: 'Dan's really trying to make it work — and Jacqueline's clearly touched by the effort. It's early days, but this could be a fresh start." In her slew of snaps from their luxury escape, Jacqueline showed off their modern suite, complete with views of St Paul's Cathedral. She also posted a pic of Dan looking out the window onto the London skyline and gushed over her husband. "Happy 8th wedding anniversary," Jacqueline captioned the Instagram Story, adding an eyes welling up emoji and love heart hand emoji. The EastEnders star also shared photos of the luxurious room, including vinyl player and sakura-decorated crockery from which she enjoyed a warm brew. There was also a bouquet of pink flowers with a bottle of bubbly on which there was a heartwarming message from Dan, which read "cheers to you beauty!" As part of their anniversary celebration, the couple attended the London concert of Chris Brown, who is facing charges of assault and was recently hauled before a court in the capital. How Christine McGuinness & Dan Osborne 'comforted each other' amid marriage breakdowns, had hotel meet & flirty nickname Dan and Jacqueline's romantic celebrations come after years of a turbulent on-again, off-again marriage. Earlier this year, The Sun revealed Dan had moved out of his and Jacqueline's home and into a property he had bought behind his wife's back. Both temporarily removed their wedding rings. More recently, we reported how Dan and fellow reality star Christine, 37, comforted one another amid their marital woes. Dan had joined Christine McGuiness for raucous nights out that helped lift her spirits after her split from radio and TV host husband Paddy. At the time, reality star Dan was still building bridges with Jacqueline over previous cheating claims. Former Towie star Dan is adamant nothing happened romantically between the pair, even suggesting that the text messages between them were 'deep fakes or AI' when asked. But putting on a united front, Dan and Jacqueline revealed they had enjoyed a weekend in Ireland recently. She recently heaped praise on Dan for being"the best daddy ever" in an emotional tribute on Father's Day. The couple are parents to daughters, Ella, nine, and Mia, six, while Dan is dad to son Teddy, 12, from a previous relationship. Jacqueline Jossa and Dan Osborne relationship timeline Jacqueline Jossa and Dan Osborne have weathered several storms since they first got together over 10 years ago. Here's how their relationship has played out 2013: After meeting at an awards ceremony that year, Jacqueline and Dan start going on a string of dates November 2013: Jacqueline is forced to defend Dan online after it was revealed he had also been on dates with Ferne McCann, Jac cleared up the matter by saying he was "single and can do what he wants". August 2014: Dan and Jacqueline announce that she is pregnant with their first child together February 2015: The couple welcome their first baby, a daughter named Ella. June 2015: Dan excitedly announced on Twitter that he and Jacqueline were engaged after a romantic proposal in Greece. He wrote: "She said YES!!! I am the luckiest man in the world to be marrying the woman of my dreams." June 2017: The couple exchange vows at a star-studded wedding ceremony at Cheshire Manor House. January 2018: The couple announced they were expecting their second baby together. May 2018: News reports that the couple have split with Dan heading off to a Marbella bootcamp when she was 30 weeks pregnant. Dan later confirmed he was living with a friend, and told Daily Star Sunday: "I'm still staying with a mate. I left because we were arguing and it is such a waste of energy. "The way I look at life is every day spent unhappy is a wasted day, and we were both having a lot of unhappy days," he added. "I still obviously care for Jacqueline but if we can't make each other happy then we shouldn't stay together. Life is too short." May 2018: Dan was seen getting close to Gabby Allen, sparking rumours they were now seeing each other during his break with Jacqueline. June 2018: The couple's second daughter, Mia, is born. October 2018: Dan and Jacqueline confirm they are giving their relationship another shot, telling OK! Magazine they "went through a bad patch" but are "stronger than ever". March 2019: Dan is accused of cheating on Jacqueline with Love Island star Alexandra Cane. Both sides denied the claims. November 2019: Jacqueline enters I'm A Celebrity but threatens to quit when Myles Stephenson confesses to her he thinks Dan cheated on her with his ex, Gabby Allen. She later is given a voicemail, and chooses to stay, winning the show. December 2019: Celebrity Big Brother star Chloe Ayling accuses Dan of having a threesome with her and Natalie Nunn on a boozy night out. Chloe stated in an interview with The Sun that Dan was "making a fool of Jacqueline". August 2024: Dan and Jacqueline become victim of a terrifying kidnap plot while they're on holiday with their daughters. The pair claim £20,000 worth of jewellery and even their girls' tooth fairy money was stolen. January 2025: Gabby Allen denies all relationship rumours with Dan and claims they have now completely cut contact, saying she "hopes he and Jacqueline are happy together." January 20 25: The couple are one again forced to deny split claims, with friends saying they were "upset and hurt" at the allegations after they put their home on the market. March 2025: The Sun exclusively reveals that Dan has moved out of the home he shares with Jacqueline. 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Times
31 minutes ago
- Times
Emma Raducanu's fightback in vain but Dan Evans stuns another star
Emma Raducanu's up-and-down preparations for Wimbledon ended on a slightly deflating note as she was knocked out of Eastbourne by the Australian Maya Joint, but Dan Evans's recent resurgence continued as he defeated the American Tommy Paul to record his second win against a top-20 player in as many weeks. Raducanu's was an extraordinary match in which she showed remarkable resilience, fighting back from 2-5 down in the final set and surviving three attempts by Joint to serve out victory. When Raducanu won the first point against serve in the tie-break to lead 4-3, it seemed the momentum was with her, but Joint recovered brilliantly to win four of the final five points. It means that Raducanu goes into Wimbledon having reached just two quarter-finals this season, at Queen's and in Miami, and still struggling with a back issue. However, she said that she intends to 'step on the court' at Wimbledon regardless. 'I've just been managing it,' she added. 'Hopefully I can recover. I still have a few days before Wimbledon, so I'm looking forward to kind of recovering, and hopefully it settles. 'It bothers me. I wouldn't say it's like I can't move. Like a lot of athletes, we all carry something that we're managing and playing through, but it's OK, I can play, and I can still put out some pretty decent tennis.' Indeed, after a difficult period in which she also received some bad personal news that left her visibly emotional after her previous match, there was much to credit the British No1 in this performance against one of the rising young players in women's tennis, the 19-year-old world No51. Raducanu recovered strongly from losing the first two games in the first set, but when she slipped 2-0 behind in the second, it seemed to signal a much more decisive shift. Joint played very well, using her powers of dogged retrieval to force Raducanu to constantly play an extra shot, and often drawing the error. At one stage Joint won 11 in a run of 14 games, but, looking for only her third win against a top-50 player, she tightened up on the brink of victory, and Raducanu enacted a thrilling fightback. She broke for 5-3, then again to love to get back to 5-5, then dropped her own serve, before summoning another brilliant return game to force the tie-break. But Joint, the second-youngest player in the top 80, showed great character to get over the line, winning 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Evans, meanwhile, has tumbled down the rankings over the past two years, but he, by contrast, goes into Wimbledon — where he has a wild-card entry into the main draw — on the crest of a wave, having added the scalp of world No13 Paul to that of Frances Tiafoe, who was also ranked 13th when Evans beat him at Queen's last week. Showing his trademark court-craft, 35-year-old Evans, who has spoken about wanting to make the most of the time that he has left in his career, came through a topsy-turvy match to knock out Paul, the second seed, and a player of significant grass-court pedigree having won Queen's and reached the Wimbledon quarter-final last year. After the first two sets were shared, Evans broke early in the decider, but was pegged back at 4-3. But he then broke Paul again and served out to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and earn a quarter-final against another American, Jenson Brooksby. A tearful Evans told the BBC: 'I know I've done the work and once I got some confidence, I knew that the work was in the bank… A good friend said, 'If the door opens and you're ready, you'll walk through it, if you're not, you won't,' and there's no truer word.' Evans is joined in the quarter-finals by Billy Harris, the British men's No4, who was impressive in his 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Italian Mattia Bellucci. He will meet the fourth seed, the French world No20 Ugo Humbert, and could play Evans in the semi-finals. Earlier, Jodie Burrage became the second British player this week to lose to the reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova after holding multiple match points. Krejcikova, who had saved two match points against Harriet Dart on Tuesday, fell 0-40 down serving at 5-6 in the third set, but Burrage could not take any of her three opportunities, missing a down-the-line pass on the first of them, losing 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3). Jacob Fearnley showed glimmers of an excellent grass-court game in reaching the Queen's quarter-final and dispatching the world No24 Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday, but he was disappointingly off his best as he succumbed 6-3, 6-1 to the American Marcos Giron. And Fran Jones, the fifth-ranked British woman, who was on Raducanu's coaching bench, also went out, losing 6-2, 6-1 against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska. Joint was not the only youngster to impress. Alexandra Eala, 20, of the Philippines, the third-youngest player in the top 80, has already beaten Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys this season, and she continued her rise by beating the third seed, Jelena Ostapenko, in three sets after Ostapenko retired with a foot injury. Meanwhile, at Roehampton, Hamish Stewart and Oliver Tarvet advanced to the final round of Wimbledon qualifying, and are now just one win away from a place in the main draw.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Michelle Heaton wows in a rose gold embellished gown as she joins glamorous Tamzin Outhwaite and Paloma Faith at the Butterfly Ball
Michelle Heaton, Tamzin Outhwaite, and Paloma Faith pulled out all the stops as they attended the star-studded Butterfly Ball at London's Dorchester Hotel on Wednesday evening. Former Liberty X singer Michelle, 45, looked sensational in a rose gold, sequin-embellished gown as she posed up a storm on the carpet ahead of the glitzy charity event. Her glamorous floor-length dress featured a gold chain halterneck, a low back, and a softly draped silhouette. The star kept accessories to a minimum, letting her statement gown take centre stage, and beamed as she posed for the cameras. Meanwhile, ex-EastEnders actress Tamzin, 54, exuded elegance in a chic black velour gown. The stylish floor-sweeping number boasted ruffled short sleeves, a cinched waist with a delicate gold belt, and a floaty skirt. She added inches to her height with gold platform heels as she struck a pose for the cameras. Paloma, 43, turned heads as she put on a leggy display in a striking white gown by Ronald van der Kemp. The statement dress featured a semi-sheer embroidered lace bodice, an asymmetric pleated neckline, and a dramatic high-slit skirt that showed off her toned pins. The Only Love Can Hurt Like This hitmaker elevated her look with black patent bow heels and gold pearl drop earrings, while styling her blonde locks in a unique French braided updo. She joined Caudwell Children founder John Caudwell, 72, and his glamorous partner Modesta Vžesniauskaitė, 41, on the carpet for several snaps ahead of the lavish event. The Butterfly Ball is an annual fundraising gala hosted by Caudwell Children, a charity dedicated to supporting disabled and autistic children across the UK. In April, Michelle was looking better than ever as she flaunted her abs on the beach in the Dominican Republic. To celebrate four years of sobriety, the singer was spending a week at Casa de Campo Resort and Villas with her husband Hugh Hanley, and their two kids, Faith, 13, and 10-year-old AJ. And in a recent exclusive interview with MailOnline, Michelle revealed why their family holiday was even more 'magical' than usual. She said: 'Obviously, the first thing that made it special was where Casa de Campo is, and everything being so luxurious. 'It feels like you're somewhere that you're not meant to be. Like, could this be real? 'But, for us as a family, I was coming up to four years sober as well, so every time we go away now, it's just more magical, and we have moments that eclipse the moments in the past, which is great. 'We're making new memories together.' 'This was also the first holiday where the kids' iPads never came out and we had adult conversations,' Michelle continued: 'Faith had a phone because she likes to take photos and post them, now she's 13, but there was no screen time apart from the evenings when we were getting ready for bed.' One of the largest resorts in the Caribbean, the 7,000-acre Casa de Campo is home to 255 villas, three miles of beaches, four marinas, football fields, a ranch with horses, three world championship golf courses, six restaurants, three pools, and so much more. Meanwhile, Olivia Cox put on a very leggy display in a stunning baby blue and pink rose print mini dress It's so big, in fact, that every room comes with a golf buggy – which Michelle laughed 'didn't go very fast'. 'It's insane how much is available, and how much is included in the all-inclusive price of the resort,' she adds. 'We did not tick all the boxes, we didn't do everything that we wanted to do, there just wasn't time!' And Michelle said the reason Faith and AJ never asked for their iPads was due to how much was on offer, with the family throwing themselves into a huge range of activities, from clay pigeon shooting to speed boat rides and golf. The highlight for Michelle was a boat trip to Isla Catalina, where the family spent the day snorkelling. 'That was the first time, we'd all gone snorkelling as a family,' she said. 'And that was really good fun to be able to do that together. 'Usually, one of the kids won't want to go in the sea, or I don't want to, and this time we really just all wanted to do the same things which was great. She concluded: 'We even saw a stingray when we were snorkelling near some rocks – although we didn't get too close.'
