Colombian duo wins longest tie-breaker in tennis history

Washington: Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah won what the ATP Tour believed to be the longest tie-breaker in its history on Wednesday to take their Washington Open first-round match.

Cabal and Farah defeated US qualifiers Austin Krajicek and Nicholas Monroe 7-6 (25/23), 6-3 in the historic hardcourt matchup.

"I had a blast playing that breaker and luckily it went in our favor," Farah said.

And they rode the tie-breaker victory to taking the match as well.

"That tie-breaker, it gave us a little bit of momentum," Cabal said.

While it was thought to be the ATP milestone, it fell just shy of the all-time record tie-breaker.

That came in the first round at Wimbledon in 1985 when Dane Michael Mortensen and Swede Jan Gunnarsson defeated Australian John Frawley and Paraguayan Victor Pecci 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (26/24).

But that didn`t dim the thrill for spectators who jammed the outer court as the drama unfolded.

"It was a great match. It was a great atmosphere," Farah said. "If you add both the scores, it`s like playing a whole set."