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Nicolas Mahut certainly knows a little something about being on court for a long time. Judging by his smile, it was a lot better feeling this time.
The 31-year old Frenchman captured the title at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Sunday, beating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
Mahut, a 2007 Newport finalist and a wild-card entrant this week, won his second career ATP title.
Mahut lost the longest match in tennis history three years ago, dropping the fifth set to John Isner 70-68 at Wimbledon in a match that lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes. A display with items used in that match is located a few hundred yards away in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
On Sunday morning, Mahut advanced after beating American Michael Russell 6-2, 6-2 in just 63 minutes. Mahut needed 2 hours, 19 minutes to get past Hewitt. Then he had to prepare for a doubles semifinal.
"You guys know I can play a long time, stay a long time on the court," he said, breaking into a grin while standing on a rear practice court. "I would like to tell you I'm not tired. I'm tired, but I have the trophy in my bag, so I just need to get ready to play one more match."
In the final set, Mahut broke in the sixth and eighth games to take control. He won the final point with a drop shot at the net, then dropped to his knees, putting both hands to his face before bending face down.
"I was not supposed to play," he said of gaining a wild-card entry into the tournament. "I wasn't able to play the (qualifiers). I'm really grateful to (the tourney director) for the wild card he gave me."
Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/9476926/nicolas-mahut-wins-newport-title-john-isner-falls-semis
