( CNN ) -- John Isner says his 11-hour match at Wimbledon against Nicolas Mahut was `` absolutely crazy '' and at one point he thought it might never end . The world number 23 from the United States has gone down in the record books as the winner of the longest match in tennis history . His epic battle with Frenchman Mahut on Court 18 at the All England Club stretched over three days and 183 games before he claimed the first round clash , 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 . Isner told CNN that the first day of action on Tuesday June 22 was a `` pretty standard four-set match suspended by darkness which happens at Wimbledon . '' But nothing could have prepared the man from North Carolina for the incredible events that were to unfurl in the fifth set the following day . The pair battled for over seven hours and by the time it was called off all the record books had already been re-written . `` That one set just did n't want to end , we played 118 games with no decider and we had to come back next day to finish it off , '' Isner explained to CNN . `` I think once we got to 30 ( games ) all I really did n't think it was going to end . `` Both of us were serving fantastic and it got to the point when we did n't want to make a mistake on our service game . `` We were still able to hit an inordinate amount of aces and every time someone got in a jam we were able to claw our way out of it . The marathon eventually ended on the Thursday afternoon as Isner finally made a breakthrough on Mahut 's service at match point , but not before another 20 games had been completed . An exhausted Isner lost his second round match the next day in straight sets , but his incredible feat of endurance against Mahut will always be remembered . The 25-year-old said he had prepared for Wimbledon by training near his home in Tampa , Florida , hitting ball after ball in the blazing heat and humidity . So fit was Isner that his coach Craig Boynton had made a prophetic prediction ahead of the third grand slam of the year . `` My coach jokingly said I would be able to play for 10 hours because of the extreme conditions I was practicing in and sure enough he was right . '' But the reality was both had played to the point of exhaustion and the giant Isner was suffering from agonizing blood blisters on both feet . `` It was pretty brutal , it was ugly , '' he said . After taking a well-earned break , Isner will resume play on the ATP Tour later this month as he builds up to the third grand slam of the season at the U.S. Open .
John Isner tells CNN his match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon was 'absolutely crazy ' American started to think that his 11-hour marathon would never finish . Isner eventually closed it out after 183 games which smashed all previous records . He lost his second round match in straight sets and is now resting back in U.S .