John Isner is confident his record-breaking Wimbledon triumph over Nicolas Mahut will create a bond between the two men that will never be broken.
Isner and Mahut shared an 11-hour odyssey over three days at the All England Club before the American broke a run of 168 games without a break of service to clinch the deciding set 70-68 in their round one clash.
The 25-year-old concedes he and Frenchman Mahut had little in common prior to their fateful pairing that garnered little attention at the outset but ultimately reached its conclusion before an enthralled global audience.
And after the events of the past few days, Isner believes Wimbledon 2010 will be a milestone in tennis history that will unite the two for the rest of their days.
"It's something Nic and I will share forever really," said Isner.
"I don't think I've ever said five words to the guy prior to our match. Not that he's a bad guy. It is what it is."
"Now when I do see him in the locker room at other tournaments, we'll always be able to share that."
Isner and Mahut etched themselves into tennis folklore by producing the longest match in history in terms of number of games - 183 in total - and duration, and the highest number of aces - 215 between them - in a single match.
When the match was called to a halt on Wednesday night due to bad light with the score at 59-59 in the final set, there was only one story in town.
On any other day, Roger Federer's struggle to see off second-round opponent Ilija Bozoljac, a Serbian qualifier, would have been big news, but the top seed's indifferent form paled into insignificance on Wednesday beside the drama being played out on Court 18.
"Not often do I steal the show from a guy like Federer, but I think I did," Isner reflected.
"I knew it was probably a big deal around the tennis world, because this is Wimbledon. So anybody that follows tennis, all eyes are on this tournament."
"It was when I got back to the locker room [on Wednesday night] that I realised how big of a story it was really worldwide."
Asked what kept him going throughout the gruelling contest, Isner, who hit 112 aces in the match to set a new world record, added: "I think it was the will to win."
"Obviously in the back of my mind was, as I'm sure it was with him, 'I don't want to be on the losing side of this. It's going to be a little bit better to be on the winning side'."
"But I think it was the will to win. Not that I 'out-willed' him. Obviously he gave it his all. I just was a little bit more fortunate than he was."
Questioned as to whether he could begin to understand Mahut's emotions after the match, he replied: "No, I can't. I don't even want to think about that."
Despite the cruel nature of the loss, Mahut, who served to stay in the match 63 times, was gracious in defeat.
"At this moment I'm just really thankful. It was amazing today," Mahut said.
"John deserved to win. He served unbelievable, he's a champion."
"It was really an honour to play the greatest match ever at the greatest place for tennis."