Nicolas Mahut: Who Is The Man In The Longest Match Ever, Going On At 2010 Wimbledon?

There is nothing wrong with your television. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. Yes, hard-serving American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut really are deadlocked at 42-42 in the (hopefully) decisive fifth set of their opening round match at Wimbledon (at least as of this writing).

That the gargantuan, 6'9'' Isner is in an absurdly long fifth set shouldn't be too surprising: on the quick grass courts of Wimbledon, his massive serve is all but unreturnable, although he struggles in the return game. Result? Both players holding serve, ad infinitum. But who, exactly, is Nicolas Mahut? Well, he's also something of a grass-court specialist, making this the endless match that it is. Indeed, this is what you might call a perfect storm of serving-and-volleying.

Mahut, currently ranked 140th in the world, is better known as a doubles player, although he has had a bit of success in singles on grass courts. Back in 2007 at the prestigious Wimbledon tune-up at Queens Club, Mahut upended Ivan Ljubicic and Rafael Nadal en route to the finals, where he fell to Andy Roddick. Recently, however, Mahut has fallen off. Indeed, Mahut had to go through qualifying just to make this year's Wimbledon field, where he had more than his fair share of tough matches. Mahut outlasted Alex Bogdanovic in qualifying, 3-6, 6-3, 24-22, before coming back from a two-sets-to-none hole to win his final qualifying match and make the Wimbledon field. At the very least, he's shown that he is extremely fit, and more than capable of holding his own serve in pressure-packed situations.

Isner and Mahut have conspired to break nearly every conceivable record (aces, points, games, length of match). We'll let you know if anyone ever wins it.