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Marathon men John Isner and Nicholas Mahut became Wimbledon legends last night after unravelling the longest tennis match in history.

And incredibly, after exactly 10 HOURS on court, it’s not over yet after play was suspended at 9.09pm in neardarkness on Court No.18 with the final set deadlocked at 59-59.

At 7hr 6min, the final set alone has lasted longer than the sport’s previous record endurance test and they resume today with Isner having fired 98 aces and Mahut, the world No.148 from France, another 95 – the most aces ever in a match.

Isner, the 6ft 9in American who lost to Andy Murray at this year’s Australian Open, gasped: “I don’t know what to say – nothing like this will ever happen again.

“I would love to see the stats because I was serving fantastic, he was serving fantastic, and we both wanted to carry on, but we were called off.” Mahut said: “He is just a champion, and we have both been fighting like we have never fought before.

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“The crowd has been fantastic but now we will have to come back tomorrow.”

Until sunset last night, the longest match in history had lasted 112 games, when Pancho Gonzales beat Charlie Pasarell in 1969 before the age of tie-breaks.

Or, for clock-watchers, it had been Arnaud Clement and Fabrice Santoro’s 6hr 33min classic at the 2004 French Open. Isner’s mum could have watched the start of the match at the family home in Tampa, Florida, before jumping on a plane to London and catching the end of it in SW19.

Jazmie Murray, who waited all day for his doubles match which was due on court after Isner and Mahut, branded the shoot-out a “shambles.”

When play was abandoned the crowd were calling for it to be moved to Centre Court, where such a show of willpower would be fit to set before the Queen today.