Wimbledon 2012: Cilic beats Querrey in second longest match

Marin Cilic beat Sam Querrey in five hours 31 minutes, the second longest match in Wimbledon history.

Cilic, 23, finally won the third-round match 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-7 (7-2) 6-7 (7-3) 17-15 at 21:02 BST.

It was still less than half the length of the longest match in Wimbledon history, when John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut in 11 hours five minutes in 2010.

"That was complete drama, especially that fifth set," said 16th seed Cilic, who faces Andy Murray on Monday.

The match surpassed the mark of five hours 28 minutes set in 1989 when Greg Holmes beat Todd Witsken 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 14-12.

Cilic and Querrey embraced at the net at the end of the match, and the Croatian said such a long affair was tough both mentally and physically.

"The difficult thing is that you are always thinking you are close, that you are going to break, but the game keeps going and the set is getting longer, and still you have to be really focused not to miss any easy balls," he said.

"You cannot let the other person see you are in physical or mental trouble, so it's not easy, but I would say it was a really big mental battle today."

Cilic, who became Queen's champion after David Nalbandian was disqualified in the final, is anticipating a different style of match against Murray.

"There is going to be more points from the rally, more running and I'd say Sam [Querry] was serving really well today, so it wasn't easy to find the rhythm from the back of the court," said Cilic.

"It was a little bit windy also, so I would say it will be a different match definitely, but I hope I'm going to be fresh and ready to go."