Game on... and on

Move over soccer, the world is abuzz about the longest ever Wimbledon match in history. Two virtually unknown tennis players achieved the impossible — they diverted the world’s attention from the Football World Cup

Move over soccer, the world is abuzz about the longest ever Wimbledon match in history Two virtually unknown tennis players achieved the impossible — they diverted the world’s attention from the Football World Cup.

On Tuesday, French player Nicolas Mahut and American John Isner started what would become the longest match in tennis history. In over 10 hours of playtime, the two have played 118 games and were locked at 59-59 when bad light ended play in the fifth set of the first-round at Wimbledon.

The match has created an online buzz that rivals that of FIFA. On Facebook, hardcore soccer fans changed their status to reflect the Isner-Mahut match. “Even if you’re not a tennis fan, just check the Isner-Mahut game out!” wrote Aditya M while Shubh wrote, “I zapped from the Germany match to this game…it was astonishing!”

“They aren’t humans, they’re androids,” wrote Moon Moon, while Akshay wrote, “59-59, sounds like a biscuit ad more than a match.” On twitter, Eschrad wrote, “Soccer could learn from tennis...ties are for wussies”, while JimX tweeted, “Isner is the true American hero.”

Not just fans, even tennis greats can’t stop talking about it. “It’s amazing ,” said Venus Williams and Arnauld Clement said, “Everybody is watching on all the TVs in the locker room... players ... all the staff.”

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Buzz and bets
As the match stood at 47-47, the scoreboard broke down
The ballboys and girls had to request to be substituted after long hours on the court
Betting exchange, Betfair, has matched $15 million in bets at even odds for both
London-based bookies, Hill, place 25-1 odds that the match will continue till Friday
Odds of 100-1 have been placed on an umpire falling asleep in his chai