Wednesday, June 23, 2010

For those who are not soccer fans

from w
The household here have been watching some of the soccer matches e.g. Australia or New Zealand even though it seems to be a game of scaredy cats compared with Aussie rules or rugby. However for those more interested in tennis, here is a match to behold and deserves a few cartoons!
from the Age this morning:
Longest ever match suspended at 59-all June 24, 2010 - 6:34AM
AFP

Play has been suspended in the longest tennis match ever played as France's Nicolas Mahut and John Isner of the United States came off court at 59-59 in the final set at Wimbledon.

"Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever," said an exhausted Isner.

"I don't know what to say."

Isner had match point at 59-58, but Mahut fired down an ace to take it back to deuce, before going on to win the game.

At 59-59 and 9:10pm (0610 AEST) with the light fading fast, match officials tried to suspend play, though Isner wanted to carry on.

Spectators yelled "We want more" on Court 18.

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to darkness, play is suspended," the umpire announced.

A drained Mahut said: "We played for too long, I don't know how many hours we played."

© 2010 AFP
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and from The Guardian...Over nine hours in length, with more than six hours of it the absurdly epic final set, it remains unclear which player will crack first, both holding serve continuously in the final set, but it was Mahut who implored the officials to take the players off shortly after 9pm as he could no longer clearly see the ball.

Even before the players began warming up shortly after lunch they had already played out something of an epic, which ended on Tuesday evening tied at two sets each following, even then, 45 games of thunderous tennis.

Even then, no one expected what was to follow. Isner and Mahut proceeded to play out the longest single set, and match, ever seen, the hulking 6ft 9in Isner also taking the Wimbledon record for the most aces in a single match for good measure, slamming more than 90 past his comparatively diminutive 6ft 3in opponent.

As news of the epic spread around Wimbledon, ever greater crowds packed around the stands, while BBC2 abandoned games involving Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to focus on what would otherwise have been a relatively minor encounter between a little known duo. Mahut, 28, is more of a journeyman, ranked 148 in the world, against his 23rd seed opponent, one of the biggest – and hardest-hitting – players on the tour.

The atmosphere around the court changed slowly from excitement to wonder and finally a slightly hysterical disbelief.

As the players dragged themselves across the court with increasingly leaden feet following a day that reached temperatures of 28 degrees, the TV commentators began to sound worried. "Something surely has to give?" Boris Becker asked in seeming desperation.

The winner is due on court for his second round match later tomorrow, presuming a conclusion is eventually reached. The loser will have to be consoled with a cheque for £11,250, and maybe immortality as a future Trivial Pursuit question.
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And another match, this time played out in Canberra, Australia may be a short game, love-forty. Ms Gillard may be the next Prime Minister!
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And by 9.30 a.m. even without a vote, we now have Prime Minister Julia. Interesting times ahead.
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(posted Friday morning) The tennis match is over now. At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68 in the longest ever tennis match. The match lasted 11 hours 5 minutes.

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