Longest US Open Tennis Matches

Every year, the US Open attracts tennis audiences from around the world for two weeks at the end of the summer. As one of the four Grand Slam events in tennis, the US Open always hosts the best players in the world, which can lead to some grueling, extra-long matches. The remainder of this piece will discuss the longest matches in the history of the US Open.

• Longest Men’s Match: 5 hours, 26 minutes (Stefan Edberg def. Michael Chang, 1992)
• Longest Women’s Match: 3 hours, 40 minutes (Rebeka Masarova def. Ana Bogdan, Elise Mertens def. Rebecca Peterson, 2021)

Longest Men’s US Open Match

On the men’s side, the longest match ever at the US Open took place at the 1992 edition of the tournament. In the semifinals that year, American Michael Chang went up against one of the better players of his generation, Stefan Edberg. At the time of the tournament, Edberg was ranked number two in the world, while Chang was not far behind, at number four. 

Eventually, Edberg would ever so slightly defeat Chang in a five-set thriller by a score of 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. The record match lasted an incredible five hours and 26 minutes, and it is still the longest match ever to date in the 141-year history of the US Open. Edberg would go on to defeat another American, Pete Sampras, in the final, winning the final Grand Slam of his career. 

Longest Women’s US Open Match

In 2021, two first-round women’s matches lasted a record three hours and 40 minutes, and they amazingly started at almost the same time on the same day, August 30th. In the first of these matches, Spaniard Rebeka Masarova defeated Romanian Ana Bogdan 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, while Elise Mertens of Belgium took down Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in the other match.

Masarova would go on to lose in the second round of the tournament to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine by a score of 6-2, 7-5. As for Mertens, she advanced all the way to the Round of 16, where she ultimately fell to world number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-1.

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