那场打了三天的网球赛

二零一零年温布尔登网球锦标赛上，两名选手走上十八号球场，参加一场首轮比赛。没有人期待会发生什么特别的事。约翰·伊斯内尔是美国人，身材高大，发球十分有力。尼古拉·马胡是法国人，排名较低，在网球圈外并不出名。他们的比赛原定一个下午打完。

At Wimbledon in 2010, two players walked onto Court 18 for a first-round match. Nobody expected anything special. John Isner was an American, tall, with a powerful serve. Nicolas Mahut was French, lower-ranked, and not famous outside of tennis. Their match was scheduled for one afternoon.

那天下午比赛并没有结束，第二天也没有结束。

It did not end that afternoon. It did not end the next day either.

两位选手从六月二十二日星期二开始比赛。谁也无法破掉对方的发球局。他们打完了三盘，又打了第四盘。到了傍晚，比分战成两盘平，裁判因为天色渐暗而叫停了比赛。他们只能明天再战。

The two players began their match on Tuesday, June 22. Neither of them could break the other one's serve. They played through three sets, then four. By evening, with the score at two sets all, the umpire stopped the match because of fading light. They would have to finish tomorrow.

星期三，两人重新回到球场，开始了第五盘。在温布尔登，第五盘没有抢七局，必须净胜两局才能获胜。比分不断攀升：十比十，二十比二十，三十比三十。马胡保住了自己的发球局，伊斯内尔也保住了自己的。最终，比分来到了五十九比五十九。观众静静地看着，几乎有些不知所措。比赛不得不再次叫停，还是因为天色。

On Wednesday, they came back. They played the fifth set, which has no tiebreak at Wimbledon. They would have to win it by two games. The score climbed: 10-10, 20-20, 30-30. Mahut held his serve. Isner held his. Eventually it reached 59-59. The crowd watched, silent, almost embarrassed. The match had to be stopped again. Light, once more.

星期四，在球场上打了超过十个小时之后，约翰·伊斯内尔终于破掉了已经筋疲力尽的对手的发球局。第五盘的最终比分是七十比六十八。整场比赛一共持续了十一小时五分钟。马胡打出了一百零三次发球直接得分，却依然输掉了比赛。

On Thursday, after over ten hours on the court, John Isner finally broke the serve of his exhausted opponent. The final score in the fifth set was 70-68. The entire match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Mahut hit 103 aces and still lost.

比赛结束时，两名选手在镜头前都说不出完整的话来。他们各自获得了一枚小奖牌，以纪念这场比赛。球场本身也多了一块小小的纪念牌。多年以后，这依然是网球史上耗时最长的一场比赛，网球界大多数人相信，这个纪录永远不会被打破。

When it was over, neither player could speak well to the cameras. Both were given small medals to mark what had happened. The court itself got a small plaque added to it. Years later, it is still the longest tennis match ever played, and most people in tennis believe it will never be beaten.