Believe it or not, the format hasn’t always been this tidy. In the early days of Wimbledon (1877), the men’s final was best of five, but the tiebreak didn’t exist. So if a set went to 8-6, you just kept playing. One match in 1880 had a set that ended 30-28. Yes, a single set lasted longer than some modern movies. They didn’t have Gatorade either. They probably just drank tea and cursed.
Then, in 1971, Wimbledon finally introduced the tiebreak at 8-8 for all sets except the final set. That meant the match could keep going forever in the last set—which it did. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut once played a match at Wimbledon that had a final set of 70-68. That’s not a typo. It took two days. If that had been the final, the trophy would have come with a pension plan.
The ‘Advantage Set’ Era (When Tennis Was Basically a Punishment)
Before 1971, every set required a two-game lead. So if you were down 5-6 and broke serve, you went to 6-6, but then you had to break again to win. This created sets like 16-14 on a regular basis. It was less a sport and more a test of how much suffering a human could endure while wearing white shorts.
Wimbledon Winners: Complete list of champions in the tournament's
Fun fact: the longest set in Wimbledon history (not final, but still) was in 2010: 59-57 in the first round between Isner and Mahut. That set alone took eight hours and eleven minutes. I once had a dentist appointment that felt shorter, and that included a root canal.
