Marathon man Mahut's Wimbledon comes to an end

London : Nicolas Mahut, who played the longest tennis match ever known, saw his Wimbledon campaign come to an end on Saturday when he was knocked out in the men's doubles - a match his partner was furious about.

Mahut and his fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement were knocked out of the first round in four sets by Britain's Colin Fleming and Kenneth Skupski.

Mahut also came out on the losing side in his first round singles match - but he still leaves the All England Club a hero.

He and America's John Isner played out the world's longest-ever match - an 11-hour, five-minute epic that ended an incredible 70-68 in the final set.

But three hours after it finished Thursday, he was forced to start his doubles match, even though only one set could be completed before sundown and the battered Mahut could barely stand up.

An outraged Clement branded the Wimbledon organisers "idiots".

"What they have done is absolutely shameful," Clement told reporters.

"To send him out on court when he could hardly stand up, that shocked me and everyone else in the locker room," he said.

"I don't understand how they have staged this match when there was a danger to his health. It's mind-blowing, I'm still really angry.

"I don't know if I've ever seen anything as shameful on the tour and I've been around a long time.

"I hope it was not because we were up against a British pairing but I can't be sure."