Epic Tennis Match Sets US Open Record

It lasted for 5 hours, 35 minutes before Dan Evans won
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 28, 2024 1:00 AM CDT
Epic Tennis Match Sets US Open Record
Britain's Dan Evans in action against US Brandon Nakashima during their men's singles match on day four of The Queen's Club tennis tournament, in London, Tuesday, June 18, 2024.   (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

A few hours into a match that eventually set a US Open record for length, Dan Evans glanced over at the scoreboard. Not to see how he was doing, but to clarify exactly how long he had been playing. "In the fourth set, I had to check the set to see what set we were in," Evans said. "I wasn't entirely sure what set we were in." More than an hour later, Evans won the longest match at the US Open since tiebreakers were introduced in 1970, beating Karen Khachanov 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 on Tuesday in 5 hours, 35 minutes, the AP reports. The previous record was 5 hours, 26 minutes, when Stefan Edberg beat Michael Chang in a five-setter in the 1992 semifinals.

Evans trailed 4-0 in the fifth set before running off the final six games. The final point, fittingly, was a marathon 22-shot rally, with Evans on the defensive for much of the point before hitting a hard shot to the corner that the No. 23-seeded Khachanov couldn't get back over the net with his backhand. "I was hurting all over, really," said the 34-year-old Evans, who was grabbing at his lower legs and resting his hands on his knees in the final set. "I don't think I've played five hours, that long, in a day, ever—in two sessions, never mind in one. I was actually thinking that on the court. I've never practiced two hours, two hours. It's normally an hour and a half." He added, "Yeah, I don't really want to do that again, that's for sure."

(More US Open Tennis stories.)

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