Roland Garros It is one of the toughest and most demanding championships in the world. The clay of Paris puts the best snowshoes on the planet to the test every year, who seek to demonstrate their skills and be able to lift the capital of France the trophy that accredits them as champions of this tournament, the second grand slams it’s from the season. This year, the 14 times winner of this contest, Rafael Nadalhas not been able to participate due to an injury that has kept him off the slopes since January.
About this championship, there are several details that must be taken into account and cannot go unnoticed. The statistics play a crucial role, since they mark the biggest records that have been seen in this tournament, which rewards the best of their time. One of the most popular brands is that of the longest meeting in history on the Parisian clay. We detail what you should know about this clash, which, at the time, came to occupy the first place of longest matches in the history of tennis.
What has been the longest match in the history of Roland Garros?
This is one of the most important details that must be taken into account about the championship that is held every year in the French capital. To find out about the meeting that lasted the longest in the history of Roland Garrosyou have to go back to the edition of the year 2004. On that occasion, a contest that was played in the first phase of what is the second grand slams of the season lengthened considerably, reaching far exceeding the 6 hours. A record for the time, and it went several years without being broken, until in the year 2010, at Wimbledon, Isner and Mahut They set a new brand.
On that occasion, both tennis players came to play for more than eleven hours, and, on the grass of Wimbledon, almost 200 games were played, 183 specifically. Several records were broken in that match, but the most important was the longest match, which considerably exceeded the longest in history up to that moment and which is still valid on the clay of Roland Garros.
How long did the match last at Roland Garros and who were the tennis players who played it?
In the year 2004, Fabrice Santoro faced Arnaud Clément on the clay of Paris with a specific objective: to move on to the next phase and deliver a coup of authority in one of the most prestigious and pedigree championships in the world. What both players did not know is that their performance was going to enter the history books, thanks to their resistance, tenacity and refusal to let go in one of the longest duels of all time in the sport of racket, one of the most demanding in the world of sport.
Also, it should be noted that both players were competing at home, as they were both French. This meeting surprised locals and strangers, so it entered the history books on its own merits. Neither santoro neither clement they lowered their arms despite the blows they were receiving each other during the development of the contest. The minutes were passing and neither of the two players wanted to give up a single millimeter on one of the most demanding courts on the entire planet.
With the passage of time, all the attendees were being surprised by the waste of effort and honor on the part of the two Frenchmen, who sought to make history by winning their local tournament. The hours passed, but few thought that what was about to happen was going to happen. The score stopped when they had already been played six hours and 33 minutes of one of the longest crashes of all time.
Who was the winner of the longest match in the history of Roland Garros?
This is, perhaps, a very important detail, but one that loses importance with the passage of time, due to the feat achieved by both tennis players from the neighboring country. After almost seven hours of meeting, the winner of this match was santorowho beat his rival by a result of 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5) 3-6 and 16-14. Said player agreed to the next phase, but, due to the wear and tear he suffered from everything played in this contest, he was eliminated, again in five sets, in the second round of the championship that is played every season in the French capital. Paris.