You could barely make it up. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, the two men who broke almost every record at last year's Wimbledon when their first-round match lasted 11 hours, five minutes, will face each other again in the first round this year.
The gasps turned to giggles in the interview room as the two names were drawn side by side and when Isner found out, he couldn't believe it either. "It's weird," he said. "It's almost cruel. I was on the computer and it said John Isner and then it cut off, I didn't know what had happened."
But the American was not entirely surprised. "You know, I joked actually with Nic a week ago, I texted him 'watch us play first round' and he goes, 'no man, that's not cool'. I've already spoken to him today. We were supposed to practise tomorrow, on site at 1pm, but we're not now, it's too weird."
The reaction around the tennis world was instant, with Andy Murray leading the calls for it to be given a big stage. "Isner vs Mahut drawing each other in the first round after last year is the most amazing thing I've seen in tennis!" the Scot said on Twitter. "Centre court anyone?! Darren Cahill [part of his coaching team] thinks Isner-Mahut should go back on Court 18 where they played last year, I say get it on Centre."
Patrick McEnroe, the head of player development with the United States Tennis Association, also weighed in on Twitter, saying: "Since I haven't been able to get my big brother on Twitter yet, I will say it: 'You cannot be serious!'"
Last year's match – in which Mahut served to stay in the match 65 times in the final set – was played on Court 18, a show-court but one that only seats 782 people. Centre Court holds just under 15,000, surely a more fitting tribute to the two men for their efforts 12 months ago.
The chances of it being on Centre Court were increased by the fact that the pair are in the opposite half to Murray and Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard will open the defence of his title on Monday and the Scot will also begin his title bid, against the Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, on the same day.
Isner and Mahut will be scheduled for Tuesday and since that is traditionally ladies' day, there has to be a good chance organisers will place it between two women's matches.
For his part, Isner said he didn't really mind where it was played. "I don't care," he said. "I think people are taking bets already – I think they'll probably put it on 18."
For the record, the two men have become firm friends since last year. They keep in regular touch via Blackberry and did play each other at the Hopman Cup exhibition event in Australia in January, a match Isner won 6-3, 7-6.