'I'm feeling great,' says Nicolas Mahut before resuming the longest ever tennis match, currently tied at 59-59 in the final set

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

It's remarkable that he can even walk today. But as he limbered up on the practice courts, Nicolas Mahut, the 28-year-old Frenchman whose unfinished Wimbledon joust with the American John Isner, 25, is making tennis history, was looking forward to more.

With 10 hours played so far, the fifth set alone stretching to seven hours, six minutes and standing at 59-59, one could imagine he slept soundly after the two players left Court 18 yesterday evening owing to failing light.

"To be honest, I slept only four hours," Mahut said, as he prepared to resume the epic battle that has propelled him and Isner into the record books.

"I'm feeling great. I have to finish the match. It's just unbelievable what happened yesterday and two days ago.

"I'm feeling good, I just feel the tiredness. I just want to come on court and enjoy it, finish the job and win it.

"We both enjoyed it a lot yesterday. We had fun. The crowd was fantastic, most amazing atmosphere. We had a lot of fun on court.

"I'm ready to play as I need to play."

It was Mahut who finally implored the officials to take the players off shortly after 9pm. By then the match, which started on Tuesday, had lasted exactly 10 hours and notched up 163 games.

Umpire Mohamed Lahyani, who sat through the longest match without even a toilet break, actually wanted it to go on longer. "I sat there for 10 hours but I wanted them to go on to a hundred games each," he told London's Evening Standard as he left the court last night. "It has been an amazing game. It is something very special."

Afterwards fans mobbed him for his autograph and to pose for photographs with him.

But Isner's mother, Karen, was less excited by the length of the match. She told the Standard: "I can't bear it – it shouldn't happen. There should be tie breaks. This is crazy. Insane.

"I just wanted him off the court. I wanted him to stop playing".

So far the match, due to resume after 3.30pm today, has seen Isner set a new record for the most number of aces served by one player in a men's singles match, with 98. Mahut's 95 aces puts him in second place.

A total of 114 balls have been used so during their battle.