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Five sets, 5 1/2 hours
Corretja, Gumy complete longest Grand Slam match in history
Posted: Monday June 01, 1998 12:51 AM
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Hernan Gumy of Argentina (left) congratulates Alex Corretja of Spain after their five-set match (AP) |
PARIS (Reuters) -- Spain's Alex Corretja moved into
the French Open fourth round and tennis record books on Sunday
with an epic five-set win over Argentina's Hernan Gumy in the
longest recorded grand slam match.
Corretja, the 14th seed, was forced to work for his place in
the final 16 and grand slam history, needing five hours, 30
minutes spread over two days to pound out a 6-1, 5-7, 6-7, 7-5, 9-7
marathon win over the feisty Gumy.
The time narrowly beat the 5:26 it took Sweden's Stefan
Edberg to beat Michael Chang in the 1992 U.S. Open semifinals
and eclipses by almost an hour the 4:42 it took for Sweden's
Mats Wilander to beat another Argentine, Guillermo Vilas, in the
1982 French final.
It also easily surpasses the 4:16 Jimmy Connors required to
defeat John McEnroe in the memorable 1982 Wimbledon final.
The longest recorded match at the Australian Open was the
5:11 it took Boris Becker to beat Omar Camporese in 1991.
None of the matches, however, comes close to the 6:22 needed
to decide a 1982 Davis Cup semifinal between Wilander and
McEnroe in what was longest recorded match ever played.
"That's a pretty long match," understated Gumy, who also
went 4:33 in a five-setter against Italian Gianluca Pozzi in the
second round. "I guess it didn't seem that long because I
played it in two days."
The marathon third round match started on Saturday but was
halted after nearly four hours because of rain and fading light
with Gumy leading 2-1 but Corretja up 5-4 in the fourth set.
After dropping that set, Corretja, a winner in Dubai and a
finalist in Hamburg, looked to take control of the match,
jumping in front 5-1 in the fifth.
But Gumy refused to buckle, fighting back to even the set at
5-5.
"Once he got to 5-4, I just tried to relax myself," said
Corretja. "I had had about three match points and I was a
little bit nervous because I wanted to finish the match.
"I was waiting for my chances and I finally had it at 9-7. It's obvious now that I feel a bit tired."
Corretja is no stranger to memorable five-setters, having
battled an ill and exhausted Pete Sampras for 4:09 into the late
evening at the 1996 U.S. Open.
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