Trading the most amazing Tennis match ever!
For most of it’s history, Wimbledon had the spectacle of extremely long Tennis matches.
The final set did not end in a tie break and instead you could only win the set by two clear games. In otherwords you had to have a break of serve and hold your own to win. This often threw up some remarkable matches.
The most incredible Tennis Match
On June the 24th 2010 we were treated to the most amazing match ever at Wimbledon, the “endless match”.
Wimbledon is known for it’s grass surface and this makes it perfect for servers. The ball bounces low and fast and this makes it hard to return serve. When Isner and Mahut took the court at 18:13 on Tuesday 22nd June, they had no idea that the match would eventually finish on Thursday the 24th June at 16:47!
The final set ended up 70 to 68 in favour of John Isner. Slightly above the normal 13 games, you see in a competitive set. To give you an indication of how bizarre this match was. The final set alone was longer than the previous record for the longest match in its entirety.
The stats are crazy: –
• 183 games played
• 113 aces by Isner
• 11 hours and 5 minutes on court
The match ended up setting records for the longest tennis match ever played, the longest set ever played, the most games in a set, most games in a match, most aces served in a match, most games won by a winning (and losing) plater, most points won and most point in a match. Other than that, it wasn’t that at all special!
If you want to read some background to this match, it even has its own wiki page. Or if you wish, you can watch all eleven hours on YouTube.
I captured loads of data on the match as is progressed, knowing there was something special going on that may never be repeated. I was right to do so as subsequently rules were changed to avoid these marathon slogfests at the grand slams.
From a trading perspective flipping from one player to another to trade it was realtivelyl straight forward until tiredness started to kick in much later. Even then you could see the market favoured an Isner win.
Rule changes mean it wont happen again
Eventually the Wimbledon announced they would be introducing a rule change to prevent such long matches occurring in the future.
From 2019 to 2021, tie breaks were to be played at Wimbledon if the final set score reached 12–all. This point was determined following a review of matches in the previous 20 tournaments and a consultation with players and officials. The rule was first used in the singles in the 2019 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. In 2022, it was announced that all Grand Slam tournaments (and even the Olympics) would collectively trial a new 10-point tie-break where scores reach 6–6 in the final set.
Double bubble – A slam dunk Betfair trading opportunity
The best thing about the longest Tennis match in history is that shortly afterwards it present another EPIC trading opporunity.
When Isner stepped out for his next match against De Bakker he was visibly tired, despite the tournament giving him a rest. It didn’t take long for his odds to drift and a shattered Isner to duck out of the tournament. Even if you didn’t trade the first match. The second was a bit of a slam dunk trade.
For these reasons I’ll never forget trading Wimbledon 2010!
