When John Isner defeated Nicholas Mahut in an improbable 70-68 fifth set, they set a new standard for epic sports competition.
Epic movies often garner the Academy Awards. Epics in sports give us a frame of reference. You remember where you were when these events happened. These are the games and matches that make us sports fans.
We marvel at the athletes’ perseverance, determination and guts. In these marathons, all of these athletes are to be applauded. The effects on the teams and players that have competed in epic contests have varied. Some have gone on to win their sports title, while others seemed too exhausted to continue the great run.
10—1993 NBA Finals Game 3 (Suns 129- Bulls 121, 3OT)
After the Chicago Bulls won the first two games on the road in Phoenix, it was a foregone conclusion (especially by those in Chicago) that the Bulls would waltz through to a three-peat. This marked the first time that the home team had lost the first two games in the Finals.
The Bulls were able to force overtime using a 15-4 run in the final 7:33 of regulation. They did this despite Michael Jordan shooting 1-10 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
After both teams scored eight points in the first overtime, Chicago took a four point lead in the second overtime. It took a Dan Marjerle shot with three seconds remaining to force the third OT and keep Phoenix from trailing three games to none.
Phoenix's three-point shooting was key in their win. The Suns who led the NBA in three-pointers during the regular season were led by Majerle's six. That tied Michael Jordan's finals record from the previous season.
The Suns finally secured the win with a 9-0 run in the third overtime.
9—1976 NBA Finals Game 5 (Suns-Celtics 3OT)
Game Five of the 1976 NBA Finals was one of the wildest in NBA History. Many NBA historians consider it the best game in NBA History.
Boston blew a 22 point lead in the game, before Phoenix raced back to force overtime.
The most memorable part of the game was the final 20 seconds of the second overtime. After a Dick Van Arsdale shot cut the Celtics lead to 109-108, the madness ensued. After a Paul Westphal steal on the inbounds pass, Curtis Perry scored to put Phoenix up by one with five seconds remaining.
The game got even weirder from there. Havlicek hit a runner in the lane that appeared to give Boston a one point victory after the buzzer apparently sounded. NBA legend Rick Barry who was announcing the game on CBS, said that there should be two seconds put back on the clock. The fans rushed the court and the Celtics went to the locker to celebrate their "victory.”
After consulting, the referees agreed with Barry and put two seconds back on the clock. Score tables were overturned, Referee Richie Powers was attacked (a fan would be arrested), but the game went on. Down by one, but with the ball under their own basket, things didn't look good for the Suns.
Westphal took advantage of the rules at the time by calling a timeout to advance the ball. Boston's Jo Jo White hit the technical free throw to put Boston up 112-110. Garfield Heard then made one of the most spectacular shots in NBA history tying the game and sending it to a third overtime.
Boston pulled away in the third overtime and survived 128-126 in triple overtime.
If the series had gone to a seventh game, Suns executive Jerry Colangelo threatened to not bring his team back to the Boston Garden because of poor security.
It wasn't necessary as the Celtics wrapped up another championship with an 87-80 victory in Phoenix.
8—2005 World Series Game 3 (White Sox 7 -Astros 5, 14 Innings)
After two dramatic games in Chicago, including a White Sox win on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth by Scott Podsednik, the series shifted to Houston for Game Three.
Houston jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four innings before Chicago answered with five runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. Houston answered with a run in the bottom of the eighth to even the game. No one would score for the next five innings.
Most championship teams have improbable heroes at some point during their run. With a depleted bench, Ozzie Guillen sent seldom used back-up infielder and trade deadline acquisition Geoff Blum up to pinch hit. Blum hit a home run with two outs in the top of the 14th to give Chicago a 6-5 lead. They tacked on another run to push the lead to 7-5 before Houston came up in the bottom of the 14th.
After Damaso Marte got the first two outs, Ozzie Guillen send in reliable starter Mark Buehrle to get the final out. It was Buehrle's first career save and put Chicago one win away from its first World Series title in 88 years.
7—2009 Wimbledon Final (Federer-Roddick)
After an epic 2008 Wimbledon final, it seemed impossible that the 2009 Men's Final could come close. Andy Roddick and Roger Federer matched up for the third time at Wimbledon with the title on the line.
Rafael Nadal and Federer had become the pre-eminent rivalry in tennis and maybe all of sports. Federer was coming off of his first French Open title, completing the career grand slam and setting the record for most slams in a career in the process. Nadal was unable to defend his Wimbledon title from the previous year because of a knee injury.
Roddick took advantage of Nadal's absence and advanced to his first final at Wimbledon since losing to Federer in back-to-back finals in 2004 and 2005.
After winning the first set 7-5, the second set went to a tiebreak. Roddick took a 6-2 advantage in the tiebreak and with it, four set points. Federer proceeded to win the next six points to even the match at a set a piece instead of Roddick taking a commanding two sets to love advantage.
Federer again won the fourth set in the tiebreaker 7-5, setting up the epic fourth set.
Federer served first to begin the set. Roddick would hold his serve 14 times in a row. Finally in the 30th game of the final set, Federer broke Roddick. The 16-14 final set win by Federer was the longest final set in a grand slam final. Despite having his serve broken only once, Roddick could not manage to capture his first Wimbledon and second grand slam. In the eyes of many, he was a bigger winner than he would have been even if he had captured the title.
6—2008 Wimbledon Final (Nadal-Federer)
The 2008 Wimbledon Final was the third consecutive year that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had met at the All England Lawn and Croquet Club to contest its championship. Federer owned the five previous titles and the two had combined to win 14 of the previous 16 grand slams.
Aside from the amazing play, this match will likely be remembered for its rain delays. The match was delayed 35 minutes at its outset because of the rain.
Nadal won the first two sets 6-4. Federer took a 5-4 lead in the third before another 80-minute rain delay. Federer would then win both the third and fourth sets in the tiebreaker to set up a dramatic winner take all fifth set.
After a final rain delay of 30 minutes and with darkness threatening to postpone the end of the match until the next day, Nadal finally closed out his first Wimbledon 9-7 in the fifth.
The match set a Wimbledon record at 4:48 minutes. It would be the last final to be affected by rain. Wimbledon installed a roof on Centre Court at Wimbledon for the 2009 championships.
Nadal cemented his rise to legendary status by becoming only the third player to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg are the other two.
5—2003 Australian Open Quarterfinals (Roddick-El Aynaoui)
2003 was the year of ascension for Andy Roddick. After two consecutive trips to the quarterfinals at the 2001 and 2003 US Opens, Roddick was ready to make the next step. He and El Aynaoui matched up in the quarterfinals in Melbourne.
After falling behind two sets to one, Roddick won the fourth to set up the dramatic fifth set, the longest until the ridiculous Isner-Mahut match.
Both players saved match points before Roddick finally prevailed 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 4-6, 21-19 in a 2:23 fifth set. They were on court for 4:59 total.
Roddick lost in the semifinals to Rainier Schuttler, ruining a Roddick-Agassi finals showdown. Roddick won his first and to date, only Grand Slam title later that year in the US Open.
4—Dolphins 27 Chiefs 24 (2OT), AFC Div. Playoffs
On Christmas Day 1971, the Dolphins and the Chiefs staged the longest game in NFL History. After the teams traded scores all day, the fourth quarter and overtime provided the games biggest heroics.
Miami needed a Bob Griese to Marv Fleming touchdown pass with 1:25 remaining to tie the game.
The Chiefs Ed Podolak returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the Dolphins 22. After three plays, the Chiefs set up for a field goal from Miami's 15-yard line. Kansas City Jan Stenerud is the only kicker in the pro football Hall of Fame. Incredibly he missed the field goal to win the game.
In overtime, both Stenerud and the Dolphins Garo Yepremian missed field goals that would have put their teams in the AFC Championship game. About halfway through the second overtime Yepremian made a 37-yard field goal to put the Dolphins through.
Despite 11 Hall of Famers in the game, KC's Podolak was the game's biggest star. He finished the game with 350 All-Purpose yards.
3—2000 NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals Game (Flyers-Penguins 5OT)
It has been argued that one of the tensest things in sports is an overtime Stanley Cup Playoff game. On May 5-6, 2000, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins tested that theory just about as far as it could go. After Pittsburgh won the first two games of the series in Philadelphia, the pressure in the series was squarely on the Flyers.
The Flyers got back in the series after winning Game Three 4-3 in overtime. Setting the stage for the epic Game Four.
Alexei Kovalev put Pittsburgh up 1-0 just 2:22 into the game. It was the last goal the Penguins scored that night. Rookie goalie Brian Boucher stopped 57 of 58 shots on the night to keep the Flyers from going down 3-1 in the series. Things got even weirder from there.
Havlicek hit a running one hander seemingly as the buzzer sounded to give Boston an apparent
John LeClair finally put Philadelphia on the board at 4:37 of the third, tying the game at one. That's when the fun started.
The game remained scoreless for the next 107 minutes and 38 seconds. Keith Primeau scored 12:01 into the fifth overtime at 2:35am to even the series at two games apiece. The goal was only Primeau's seventh in 78 career playoff games.
Pittsburgh goalie Ron Tugnutt was spectacular keeping the Penguins in the game, stopping 70 of 72 shots.
Philadelphia's win completely shifted the momentum in the series. The Flyers returned home to win Game Six 6-3, the only win by a home team in the series. Philadelphia wrapped up the series in six with a 2-1 at the Igloo, their third straight road win in the series.
In the only NCAA Championship game Wilt Chamberlin appeared in, North Carolina used an effective zone defense to hold the Stilt to 23 points and 14 rebounds on 6-13 shooting. Each team only scored two points in the first two overtimes. All-American Lennie Rosenbluth led North Carolina with 20 points and five rebounds before becoming the only player in the game to foul out.
1—2010 Wimbledon First Round (Isner-Mahut)
John Isner's 6-4, 3-6,6-7, 7-6, 70-68 first round victory at Wimbledon over Nicholas Mahut defied logic. The announcers were trying desperately to find other sporting events to compare it to. Ultra Marathons, the Iron Man Triathlon were just a couple mentioned, throw in the Decathlon and Cricket and those are the only plausible comparisons.
The records that the match set were absurd. The entire match lasted 11:05. The fifth set alone was 8:11. The 183 games played in the match and 138 in the final set were the most ever by a gigantic margin. The previous record for most games played in a match was 112. Isner's 112 aces were the most ever. Mahut's 103 ranked second all-time. It broke the record of the previous longest match by 4:32.
Just as amazing as all the records that were set was the quality of play. Isner had only 10 double faults, Mahut 21 and Isner had 52 unforced errors to Mahut's 39. Appropriately, Isner won the match with a winner down the line.
After his amazing win, Isner was unable to continue his run at Wimbledon. Out of energy, Isner lost 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.
Phoenix Suns: Like this team?
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