2012 FRENCH OPEN Day 5: Isner Loses Marathon

PASCAL GUYOT/AFP

Day 5 of the 2012 French Open brought a nightmarish echo of the longest match of all time: John Isner playing a 5-set match against a talented Frenchman in a tournament without a 5th set tiebreaker. However this time Paul-Henri Mathieu was able to win 18-16 in the 5th set after 5 hours, 41 minutes of play. The final score was 6-7(2) 6-4 6-4 3-6 18-16,with the final set being the longest set in games ever played at Roland Garros. Isner saved 6  match points, but the stoic American succumbed on the 7th match point.

Most of the other top seeds advanced to the third round: Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Almagro. Other notable people also advancing were Milos Raonic, Janko Tipsarevic and the beautiful Fabio Fognini.

On the women's side Maria Sharapova had her match postponed to the next day due to the Isner-Mathieu marathon while Petra Kvitova, 2011 French Open champion Li Na, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and former #1 Caroline Wozniacki advanced. Other players to watch out for who advanced are the dangerous lefties Angelique Kerber and Varvara Lepchenko (who dismissed Jelena Jankovic). Virginie Razzano who dramatically beat Serena Williams on Tuesday was herself dismissed by unheralded Arantxa Rus in straight sets.