A look at the Chardy-Gulbis marathon through the entertaining lens of Twitter

The Frenchman ultimately prevailed, 13-11, in the fifth set as te

Published Jan 20, 2016

France's Jeremy Chardy and Latvia's Ernests Gulbis put on a show in their Australian Open first-round encounter. Deposited out on Court 129 (no, not really) at the event, the two went at each other with big serves and scads of nerves for nearly five hours. Chardy ultimately prevailed, 13-11, in the fifth set as temperatures rose Down Under.

Here's a look at the match as told through the sardonic, witty, and/or truth-telling words of Twitter's tennis observers.

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Gulbis-Chardy. Come for the serves. Stay five hours for the poorly executed slice backhands. 10-10.
— Brodie (@MindTheRacket) January 19, 2016

Last year, Gulbis squandered 4 MP in losing to Kokkinakis. Today, has saved 5 MP. 10-all in the fifth.
— Josh Meiseles (@JoshMeiz) January 19, 2016

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@jonscott9 O man the drama in Gulbis' match.
— Jeff Hernaez (@JeffHernaez) January 19, 2016

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Verdasco vs #Nadal + Chardy vs #Gulbis. This WTFery is precisely why fans end up sleep deprived. #AusOpen #SleepIsForTheWeak
— Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9) January 19, 2016

And then it was over.

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Chardy d. Gulbis 75 26 67 63 1311 in 4 hrs, 43 minutes. Final set was 108 minutes; Gulbis served for it at 5-4. #AusOpen
— Steve Tignor (@SteveTignor) January 19, 2016

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4 hours 43 minutes later, we have a winner. #Chardy conquers #Gulbis 7-5 2-6 6-7(5) 6-3 13-11. #ausopen pic.twitter.com/sJkRx7OOpE
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2016

Not everyone was amused by this literally searing match.

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So Gulbis-Chardy push on in 90+ F heat in an extended 5th set because... ?

Time for tiebreaks at all Slams in deciding sets #AusOpen
— Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) January 19, 2016

Poor Gulbis does the walk through the crowd after a tough loss to Chardy. pic.twitter.com/UOvcSiPt50
— Stephanie Myles (@OpenCourt) January 19, 2016

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Chardy d. Gulbis on 7th match point, 13-11 in the fifth. Six matches to go for the title. #AusOpen
— TENNIS (@Tennis) January 19, 2016

The victor posted about the affair on Facebook.

Chardy was quiet on Twitter regarding this marathon. (He hasn't posted on there since January 16.) Small matter. It's fine for him to speak softly, or at least rarely, and just keep carrying that huge stick. He gets Andrey Kuznetsov in Round 2.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.

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