Record: Tennis match lasts… 64 hours

Guinness World Records has just recognized the record for the longest singles match for amateur tennis players Carlos Gomes and Wendy Thompson. This pair fought day and night for a period of… 64 hours.

Carlos Gomes (left) and Wendy Thompson (right) set a lifetime record. IOL screenshot

According to IOL, the record-breaking match between male tennis player Gomes and female opponent Wendy was played at the Constantia Tennis Club located in the west of Cape Town (South Africa). The record was set at 10am on February 6, the time when both players were exhausted and forced to stop the match. The pair started competing at 5pm on February 3, so with the milestone ending, Gomes and Wendy set a world record for the longest tennis singles match with 64 hours.

According to South African media, the idea of ​​organizing a record-breaking tournament originated a year ago when Wendy was invited to participate in a tournament at a tennis club in the town of Khayelitsha in the Western Cape province. Accordingly, at the tournament, Wendy expressed concern when witnessing the poor condition of the stadium facilities such as: the court surface was full of gravel, the net was torn... but there were many potential tennis players.

After the tournament, as head of a local women’s association, Wendy organized several fundraising events to help upgrade the court and set up the Grass Roots Tennis charity. During the appeal, Wendy discovered another tennis court in a similar condition in the town of Khayamandi (Western Cape). However, the 40-year-old mother’s efforts could not generate enough money to upgrade it to create a good facility for young players.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Wendy came up with the idea of ​​setting a world record to attract the attention of sponsors. The mother of three invited Gomes (President of the Constantia Tennis Club) to play a singles match for 65 hours in order to set a Guinness World Record to break the previous record of 63 hours 27 minutes 40 seconds set by two German players.

To do this, Wendy and Gomes experimented with a 24-hour competition last November to find out the elements needed for a long-term competition such as lip balm, massage, nutrition, etc. But according to Wendy, despite the preparation, the most important thing is the spirit of the participants towards a noble purpose.

The match then took place under the witness and supervision of a representative of the Guinness World Records Organization. “We played according to ATP regulations and Guinness approved that the couple was allowed to rest, eat, and sleep for a total of 45 minutes out of the 12 hours of play. Therefore, to have a long rest period, the couple chose to play continuously for 12 hours before taking advantage of the 45 minutes to eat and sleep.

“I started to feel tired after 5 hours of fighting. My wrist was in severe pain, I was almost exhausted, I was dizzy and couldn’t see anything, and the most haunting time was around 2am because we both had insomnia and exhaustion. It was unimaginable because my mind was always struggling to give up or continue,” Gomes confided.

Wendy and Gomes’s unwavering determination to do good finally paid off when they stopped the match at the 64-hour mark. According to IOL, the pair’s incredible record has attracted the attention of tennis fans, business organizations and will almost certainly bring in sponsorship money to upgrade the two aforementioned courts. After the match, Wendy and Gomes were hailed as heroes and suddenly became two famous figures in the tennis world.

According to TNO