Anderson the talk of the town
SEMIFINAL: BIG-HITTING SOUTH AFRICAN FACES ISNER FOR PLACE IN FINAL
He might be rewriting South African tennis history, already assured of pocketing at least R10 million in prize money and being the talk of the town back home with President Cyril Ramaphosa leading the celebratory chorus after stunning top-seeded Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday, but Kevin Anderson is daring to dream even bigger.
Anderson’s thrilling 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 win against the eight-time Wimbledon champion made him the first South African since Kevin Curren in 1985 to reach the last-four at the All England Club and only the sixth in total. He faces American John Isner today for a place in Sunday’s final.
“In terms of my overall Wimbledon, it’s a win that means a lot to me. It’s tough in the sense that I’ve got to get ready for my next match. I can’t dwell on it too long,” said Anderson, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open last year.
“As I said at the beginning of the tournament, getting through to the quarters was a big goal of mine. But also putting myself in these positions where, hopefully, I’m able to get another step forward and be playing on Sunday.”
Anderson, who is married to American Kelsey O’Neal, has campaigned in the United States for over a decade and has applied for dual citizenship. He says the support from South Africa has been overwhelming.
“Congratulations to Kevin Anderson for reaching the men’s singles semifinals,” Ramaphosa tweeted.
“Yeah, already gotten tons of messages from support back home,” 32-year-old Anderson said.
While the second men’s semifinal today features two former champions in Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the first match on Centre Court will produce a first-time Wimbledon final. Anderson and Isner find themselves in unchartered territory on the fabled lawn as both reached the last-four – and the quarterfinals – for the first time.
Isner is one of the biggest servers on tour. At 2.08m, the American is five centimetres taller than the South African.
“John has got one of the best serves on the tour. Especially in the last few months, what’s really impressive is his first-serve percentage,” said the world No 8, who trails Isner 3-8 on head-to-head.
“Because he has so much firepower, you just can’t be too patient. You have to still be aggressive, put him on the back foot.”
Anderson will double his prize money with a win today to R20 million. It won’t be his biggest pay day yet as he earned a cool R24.4 million for reaching the final in New York last year, which he lost to Nadal in straight sets.