We might be in arguably the greatest era of tennis ever seen. Each week, old records are broken and new ones set. We also have the privilege of watching players like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal compete in the most exciting tournaments tennis has to offer.
That being said, there are some records in tennis that may never be broken. Every sport has them – Shane Long’s 7.69 second goal in the
Premier League, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in a single basketball game and the Boston Celtics’ eight straight
NBA titles are just some examples. Despite the game of tennis evolving and players getting better each year, these are the records that might never be broken.
The longest match ever played
Image source: telegraph.co.uk
You don’t have to go too far back in time to find the longest tennis match in history. The 2010 Wimbledon opening round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut lasted an incredible 11 hours and five minutes.
The match, which had to be played over three days, saw both players each serve over 100 aces in more than 180 games. Isner would eventually go on to win the “endless match” 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68.
A rule change in 2019 introduced a tie break in the fifth set which means that the match will remain the longest in Wimbledon tournament history.
Number of aces in a season
Image source: flickr.com
Goran Ivanisevic was known for his deadly serve. It was so precise that it earned him a record that is not likely to be broken anytime soon – possibly ever.
In 1996, the Croatian served no less than 1,477 aces – 159 more than Ivo Karlovic who is second overall. If that doesn’t highlight just how brilliant Ivanisevic’s serve was, his name doesn’t just appear at the top of the list, but accounts for four of the top five in number of aces served in a single season.
Longest run at the top of the rankings
Image source: tennis.com
It would be difficult to argue with those who believe that Roger Federer is the greatest men’s tennis player of all time. With 20 Grand Slam singles titles to his name, a win record of 82%, and a total of 30 Guinness World Records, there are few who could even dream of achieving the success the Swiss has achieved.
In addition to all of his records, Federer holds one record that probably won’t ever be beaten. He spent 237 straight weeks as the world No. 1, a run that rounds out to 1,659 days and started on 2 February 2004 and ended on 17 August 2008.
You might also like: Interesting facts about Wimbledon
Racquets smashed in a season
Image source: dailybruin.com
Sometimes the pressure on the court takes over and some players can’t control their emotions – think Nick Kyrgios and John McEnroe – which inevitably leads to the players smashing whatever is closest to them. More often than not, that happens to be their racquets.
Marat Safin was a great champion, but he had quite the temper on court. In 1999 he broke 48 racquets during match play and has admitted to breaking a total of 1,055 throughout his career. Luckily his sponsors didn’t mind too much!
WTA singles titles
Image source: telegraph.co.uk
Martina Navratilova is a legend of tennis. Over the course of her career, which lasted almost 40 years, she won 59 Grand Slam titles and nine Wimbledon titles. In total, she has won 167 singles titles and no player – male or female – has even come close to that record. Jimmy Connors, who holds the record for the most singles titles on the men’s side, falls 58 titles short of Navratilova.
In addition to the most WTA singles titles, the Czechoslovakian holds the record for the longest win streak in professional tennis with 74 consecutive wins. To put that into perspective, Bjorn Borg holds the record for men at 49 consecutive singles matches.
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