The French Open has over the years seen some highly iconic moments. May it be Bjorn Borg winning it six times or Rafael Nadal doing a perfect ten at the event or the fact that Novak Djokovic completed his career slam by winning here in 2016. Amongst these award-winning moments, a certain side of this tournament stays ignored. We are talking about the time it takes to complete such long, grueling matches.
On average, the French Open has seen longer matches in comparison to the other slams of the year due to the nature of the surface on which it is played. These slow and demanding conditions very often push matches over the five-hour mark making it very hard to stay physically fit during the course of the fortnight.
The five longest French Open matches in the history of the tournament:
5. Arthur Ashe and Marty Riessen vs Tom Gorman and Stan Smith
The 1971 French Open men’s doubles final saw an all-American clash. Arthur Ashe and Marty Riessen took on Tom Gorman and Stan Smith for the ultimate prize in doubles tennis on the dirt. Gorman and Smith were up to the task straight away as they took the never-ending first set 8-6 in the pre-tiebreak era. They soon doubled their lead by clinching the second set as well and the score line read 8-6, 6-4 in their favour.
A miraculous comeback was the only chance Ashe and Riessen had. They certainly showed improvements in the third set as they comfortably took it 6-3. The fourth set was no different as their graph kept on going upwards and they took it 6-4. From holding two sets to love lead Gorman and Smith by the end of the fourth set found themselves level with their American counterparts. The final set was no less than dramatic as both teams were not in the mood to lift their foot off the pedal. In a grueling contest, finally, team Ashe-Riessen prevailed victorious as they took the fifth set 11- 9. The final scoreline read 6-8, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 11-9 in one of the greatest doubles finals of all time.
4. Rene Lacoste vs Bill Tilden
Bill Tilden
The 1927 edition of the French Open showed the world one of the greatest finals of all time. An era that only saw French players lifting the trophy at Paris was challenged by the 7-time US Open champion Bill Tilden who took on local star Rene Lacoste. The first set was comfortably taken by Lacoste 6-4.
However, there was a reason Tilden was considered the greatest of his time. He quickly turned the scores around by clinching the second and the third set 6-4,7-5. Lacoste was feeling the heat as he had massive expectations burdening him to keep the French winners’ tradition alive. Cool as a cucumber the Frenchman made sure he took this final into a decider by taking the fourth 6-3. The final set saw both men stretch limits with Lacoste overcoming Tilden 11-9 in a physically draining contest. The final scoreline read 6-4, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 11-9 in Rene Lacoste’s favour.
3. Renold Agenor vs David Prinosil
It isn’t necessary that long and demanding matches would mean semi-finals and finals. The 1994 french open was one such incident where the world saw one of the most exciting and hard-fought second-round actions. Ronald Agenor and David Prinosil took to the court unaware of the fact that they were about to create history. The German Prinosil was not going to be an easy pushover for the Haitian Agenor and that was quickly seen as the German took the first two sets 7-6, 7-6 in two mouthwatering tiebreaks leaving a mountain to climb for Agenor. However, it was going to be a day where the Haitian would somehow draw belief to complete the next-to-impossible task.
Losing two close tiebreaks can be demoralizing but Agenor was stronger than that as he made a miraculous comeback by winning the third and the fourth set 6-3, 6-4. Once again it was the final set showdown and both players were eager to make it to the 3rd round and that was clearly visible in their commitment to each point. However, as the match wore on Prinosil ran out of fuel conceding a match-deciding service game at 12-12. Agenor was the winner in this extreme battle as he bounced back from a two sets deficit and the final scoreline read 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6- 4, 14-12.
2. Eric Sturgess vs Ken McGregor
In another match from the pre-tiebreak era, the world of tennis saw two champions take to the court in the 1951 French Open semi-final. Eric Sturgess and Ken McGregor were set to give it all to confirm their spot in the final. The rule of an advantage of two games was really going to make things intense as each set was pushed to the limit by both men. Sturgess took the first set 10-8 and McGregor quickly bounced back as he took the second 9-7.
Sturgess made sure the lead was with him as he took the third 8-6. Playing to stay alive in the match McGregor made sure he levelled the match by taking the fourth 7-5. Both men had their eyes on the final, the final set was going to witness their best tennis. Long and draining rallies were on the cards as Sturgess pipped McGregor when it mattered most as he took the final set 9-7. The final scoreline read 10-8, 7-9, 8-6, 5-7, 9-7.
1. Fabrice Santoro vs Arnaud Clement
In an anticlimactic longest game, the tennis fraternity saw a nail-biting and physically draining round one match at the 2004 Roland Garros. It had to be hard fought as two Frenchmen battled to stay alive in their home event. Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement took to the court as records were about to be shattered. Santoro quickly took the first set 6-4 and in no time doubled his lead taking the second 6-3. However Clement was not going to go down so easily ad knew it would take a crazy bit of tennis to turn this around.
He leveled up his game as he took the third and the fourth 7-6, 6-3. Santoro was feeling the pressure as an inspired Clement was all of a sudden looking like the favorite to win the battle. In one of the best final sets of all time, both men were ready to give literally every ounce of energy left in them. The final set saw 30 games being played and at 14-14, Santoro made sure he gets this cruel on-the-body game done. Winning back-to-back games he took the match by winning 16-14 in the fifth. The final scoreline read 6-4,6-3,6-7,3-6,16-14 as this was recorded as the longest contest in French open history going up to 6 hours 33 minutes.
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