Brazilian duo Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa were within 12 minutes of winning the longest match in the history of Wimbledon today.

They needed four days to take their men’s doubles second round match against Paul Hanley, of the United States, and Kevin Ullyett, of Zimbabwe, the sixth seeds, because of rain. But the length of the match was startling in itself, lasting five hours and 58 minutes with the final set a 54-game marathon.

The pairings went on court on Saturday afternoon and, after five rain interruptions, the South Americans finally secured a 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 28-26 triumph which earns them a third-round clash with Martin Damm and Leander Paes, the fifth seeds.

The record for the longest match was set last year when Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada took six hours and nine minutes to win their men’s doubles quarter-final against Simon Aspelin and Todd Perry.

The Brazilians were eight games away from equalling the record for the most number of games in a set, established by another South American pair, Alex Olmedo, of Peru, and Pancho Segura, of Ecuador, in 1968.

The marathon match did nothing to help organisers make up for lost time in the wettest Wimbledon for 25 years but it drew the praise of world number three Andy Roddick. “They’re all good guys and you hate to see someone have to lose after that, especially the drama of four and five days,” said Roddick.

“But, at the same time, I think matches like that make a Grand Slam. The possibility of something crazy like that happening is what makes it different to a regular tour event.”