The Return of Isner Mahut

ToE readers will not be surprised to hear that Isner and Mahut have been drawn together once again in the first round of Wimbledon.

Isner and Mahut are perfectly balanced yin-yang anti-doppelgangers who, since they 'found' each other in last year's impossible tennis match, have been living together in a wooden hut high in the Himalayas, where they spend their days playing out endless chess stalemates and drawn games of noughts-and-crosses.

According to The Times on Saturday, the odds on Isner and Mahut being drawn together again, taking into account Isner's seeding last year, were 1 in 13,871.

But on ToE, we know that the Fates do not play dice. The odds were, of course, 1 in 1.

Xavi-Iniesta

I'm glad Spain won the World Cup because they played the best football. It was admirable that they stuck patiently to their 'ticky-tacky' passing to overcome, 1-0 every time, the increasingly efficient spoiler tactics of Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and Holland.

Also, I can't bear the sight of Arjen Robben. It would take a long time indeed to tire of punching that face.

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PS. when Xavi-Iniesta retires, it should go and live in the Himalayan hut with Isner-Mahut.

Isner Mahut

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest that the impossible Isner versus Mahut tennis match has fundamental implications for the very harmony of the universe.

It is obvious that Isner and Mahut are perfectly-balanced anti-doppelgangers. Isner is the unstoppable yin; Mahut the immovable yang.

Tied overnight at 59 games each in the (un)final set, it is vital to the structure of the cosmos that neither win today. Instead, they should carry on until they reach a magic number, such as the balanced prime 1,103.

At 1,103 games each they should immediately retire from tennis forever and go to live together in a wooden hut high in the Himalayas, where they should spend the rest of their days playing out endless chess stalemates and drawn games of noughts-and-crosses.