First a gasp, then a chuckle, then full-out laughter.

That was the response from the crowd Friday, and the tennis world, when Wimbledon announced a first-round match next week: John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut.

Yes, one year after their epic three-day match, which Isner won, 70-68, in the fifth set, they are going to play again. Whatever the mathematical odds of this happening, with names drawn at random, it was just luck of the draw.

Bad luck.

Almost cruel, Isner said.

Not funny, Mahut told Isner the other day, when they talked about whether it might happen again.

A freak moment in sports history is being recreated by a freak lottery-type draw. That match last year became a cult classic. Days later, Isner was in New York, delivering the Top 10 list on David Letterman. (No. 9: â€œWeâ€™ve been playing so long, Iâ€™ve forgotten. Am I Isner or Mahut?â€)

It is seen as a quirky moment in sports history, but the truth is, this match that would never end, still hasnâ€™t. Isner has not been the same. Mahut suffered depression for months, and physical problems doctors couldnâ€™t diagnose.

A few weeks ago, Mahut asked Wimbledon officials that no matter who he played, would they please not put him on Court 18 again. For both of them, the place is haunted.

And now the sports gods are playing a joke on them. Your worst nightmare in tennis is supposed to be facing Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer. Instead, for these guys, it is standing across the net from each other at Wimbledon.

â€œItâ€™s weird; itâ€™s almost cruel,â€ Isner told reporters. â€œI was on the computer and it said `John Isnerâ€™ and then it cut off. I didnâ€™t know what had happened.â€

As a sports writer, you see all sorts of things. I was at Tiger Woodsâ€™ first Masters, at Chris Webber calling a timeout Michigan didnâ€™t have, at all sorts of Olympic moments. Nothing was as mesmerizing as Isner-Mahut, a first-round match against two guys who are â€“ face it â€“ not among the sportâ€™s superstars.

Both players kept holding serve. Isner kept looking coach Craig Boynton, who sat a few feet from me, shrugging his shoulders, palms to the sky. â€œGood spot here, kid,â€ Boynton kept saying, for hours. â€œYour tennis here, kid.â€

The crowd kept giggling when scores were announced. Isner crushed a serve that put a dent in the scoreboard. They played four sets one day, and then stopped for darkness. The next day, they were supposed to play one quick set to end it.

By the time it got dark again, it was 59-all, and they would have to come back again. On that second day, I went early to watch. The match still wasnâ€™t even a footnote in worldwide sports attention. When it got to 8-7 in the set, I left the grounds, walked into the village and watched from a few pubs as England played an entire World Cup soccer game.

Then, back to the tennis, and â€¦ Isner led Mahut, 28-27. The days all run together, including Isnerâ€™s easy second-round loss, when he was too tired to raise his arm. He had 113 aces in the first match, none in the second. But somewhere in there, Andy Roddick ran out and grabbed all sorts of pizza and chicken and things to help out Isner after he left the court. The morning of the final day of the match, Isner went on Twitter and wrote this:

â€œFeels like a million bucks â€¦ in quarters.â€

It was the ultimate example of relentlessness and stubbornness. Mahut kept running and never seemed to get tired. Isner was delirious. Both were on auto-pilot, physically and mentally. Isner actually, literally, began to wonder if it was a dream.

Wimbledon, trying to hang on to a historical part of tennis, does not allow for a tiebreaker to determine a fifth set. Itâ€™s nostalgic. But itâ€™s also dangerous.

Afterward, I asked Isnerâ€™s mother, Karen, whether she was concerned that her son might just collapse right there on the court. â€œTrust me, I thought about that,â€ she said. â€œI thought `Someone has to do something.â€™ â€

There were going to be long-term effects. Mahut, a journeyman, couldnâ€™t take a break, as he needed the money and rankings points. His back hurt, his arm, his shoulder. Doctors, he said, didnâ€™t know why. He also had nightmares.

Isner has still not recovered. Physically, maybe he has. He took a break, and then went back and rolled his ankle. Fluke, or a body still battered? He went ahead and played the U.S. Open, anyway. But mentally, something has changed. He is the ultimate marathon man. He has a great serve that people canâ€™t return, but a bad return. So matches stay close. Since the Mahut match, he has lost fifth sets, lost marathons.

At the Davis Cup in Chile, he lost to journeyman Paul Capdeville after leading two sets to love. In Australia, he lost, 9-7, in the 5th to Marin Cilic. At the French Open, he led Nadal two sets to one before losing. In a three-set match against Ivo Karlovic, he lost, 11-9, in the final-set tiebreaker.

At the end of these marathons, he must be wondering deep down if they are a black hole, if this is happening again.

Now it is.

Rematches and sequels are rarely worth it. Some things are better left in history books.