Nicolas Mahut life and biography

Nicolas Mahut (born January 21, 1982 in Angers) is a French tennis player. Mahut is right-handed and has previously won the Orange Bowl in 1999, becoming professional in 2000. He is a good serve and volleyer and a doubles expert, having won many tournaments with his doubles partner Julien Benneteau. His career high was #40, achieved on February 18, 2008.

At the 2007 Queen's Club Championships, Mahut defeated both fifth-seed Ivan Ljubičić and top-seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets, and on the same day, to reach the semi-finals, where he beat compatriot Arnaud Clément. He lost in 3 sets 4–6, 7–6 (7), 7–6 (2) to Andy Roddick in his first ATP final after holding one match-point in the second set tiebreak.

Mahut returned to the public eye in 2010 at Wimbledon, when John Isner defeated him in the longest match in professional tennis history. Despite the losing effort, Mahut became the only person in tennis history to win more than 500 points in a single match.
At the 2007 Queen's Club Championships, Mahut defeated both fifth-seed Ivan Ljubičić and top-seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets, and on the same day, to reach the semi-finals, where he beat compatriot Arnaud Clement. He lost in 3 sets 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) to Andy Roddick in his first ATP final after holding one match-point in the second set tiebreak.
On June 21, 2007, Mahut defeated Simon Stadler of Germany to qualify for the first round proper of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. However, after winning the first round, his second match in three weeks against Clement, he lost in the second round to fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, possibly succumbing to tiredness.

In 1998, Mahut was Champion of France for 15 and 16-year-olds and the 17 and 18-year-olds. 1999 saw Mahut win the Orange Bowl doubles title. In addition, Mahut was the winner of the Sunshine Cup, the 35th Coffee Bowl and U.S. Open junior doubles titles. Lastly, Mahut was a winner of the Coupe Galéa-Valério.

In 2000, Mahut was the 2002 Wimbledon boy's singles winner. He also was the winner of the Australian Open with future top five star Tommy Robredo in doubles competition.

In 2003, Nicolas entered the top 100 of the ATP singles rankings. He also was the winner of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France with Julien Benneteau. 2004 saw the Frenchman become the Champion of France with the team Paris Jean Bouin. His doubles results were bright, losing in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Masters with Julien Benneteau in doubles. He was a winner of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France with Arnaud Clément, and a semifinalist of the U.S. Open with Benneteau in doubles.

In 2005, Mahut was the Champion of France with the Paris Jean Bouin team for the second year in sucession. Mahut won the doubles the Challenger de Grenoble and Orléans Open titles with compatriot Julien Benneteau. He was a finalist of the Orléans Open and the Ford challenger of Cherbourg-Octeville in singles competition. Mahut was also lost in the doubles finals Gilles Müller at the Cordoba Challenger.

In 2007, Nicolas was a Finalist of The Queen's Club Championships but lost in 3 sets to former world number Andy Roddick despite having a championship point, losing 6-4, 6-7, 6-7. En route to getting to the final, he defeated second-ranked Rafael Nadal, the 2005, 2006 and 2007 French Open singles champion, and the 2006 Wimbledon runner-up. In the semifinals, Mahut defeated compatriot Arnaud Clément. Mahut beat Clément in four sets and got to second round of Wimbledon losing in straight sets to Richard Gasquet seeded twelve, who went on to beat Roddick. He then made the finals in Newport, Rhode Island, reaching his 2nd career ATP-level final, but lost 4-6, 4-6 to Fabrice Santoro. In addition to these good results, Mahut and Julien Benneteau reached the 2007 U.S. Open Men's Doubles semifinals, knocking out defending champions Martin Damm and Leander Paes in the first round, before falling 3-6, 6-1, 5-7 to eventual tournament winners Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle, losing in his second U.S. Open semifinals.

Longest match in history

In what became a record-setting match, spanning three days, qualifier Mahut faced 23rd seed John Isner in the first round, on 22-24 June, who was attempting to win his first match ever at Wimbledon. Isner served a world record 112 aces in the single match alone, breaking Ivo Karlović's record of 78. Mahut would go on to surpass it as well with 103. The match is the longest match ever in a Tennis Open in terms of both times and games lasting 183 games, 11 hours and 5 minutes beating the previous record set by (respectively) Pancho Gonzales defeating Charlie Pasarell in 112 games in 1969 at Wimbledon in the first round, as well as the Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement (both French) match at the 2004 French Open which lasted 6 hours, 33 mins. Play was suspended at 21:11 on 23 June due to darkness at a score of 59-59. Isner ended up winning (6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7-9), 7–6(7–3), 68-70), with the final match time being 11 hours and 5 minutes. Both players received prizes for participating in the match. Mahut holds the Wimbledon record for most games won in a match by a losing player with 91.

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