Centre court slugfest
ANDERSON AND ISNER IN MARATHON MATCH IN FIRST SEMIFINAL
One of the longest matches seen in recent years between the South African and American.
Rafael Nadal described long-time rival Novak Djokovic as “one of the more complex” players he’s ever met as both players waited in the centre court change rooms for the marathon semifinal between Kevin Anderson of South Africa and American John Isner to end.
Nadal and Djokovic prepared to clash for the 52nd time with a Wimbledon final spot at stake.
World number one Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion at the All
England Club, trails Djokovic, the 2011, 2014 and 2015 winner, 26-25 in a rivalry which began at Roland Garros 12 years ago.
Along the way, they have fought out a series of classic and epic battles including Djokovic’s 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7 (5/7), 7–5 Australian Open final victory in 2012.
At five hours and 53 minutes, it was the longest final ever at a Slam.
The following year, Nadal downed the Serb, who was world number one at the time, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 in the semifinals in Paris, this time in four hours and 37 minutes.
“It’s always a big challenge to face Novak,” said 32-year-old Nadal who is back in the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time since 2011 when he finished runner-up to Djokovic.
“He is one of the more complex players that I ever saw in our sport. You know that you can’t win against him if you don’t play very well.”
Nadal is chasing an 18th Grand Slam title which would put him two behind Roger Federer who was sensationally knocked out in the quarterfinals by Anderson.
For his part, Djokovic is eyeing a 13th major after making the semifinals of a Slam for the first time since finishing runner-up at the 2016 US Open.
This time last year, few would have expected to see either man back in the last-four at the All England Club. Nadal was knocked out in the fourth round, losing 1311 in the final set to Luxembourg journeyman Gilles Muller.
On four of his previous five visits to south-west London, he had been defeated by players outside the top 100.
Djokovic’s 2017 Wimbledon campaign ended in a quarterfinal retirement with an elbow injury which led to surgery and precipitated a worrying dip in form and confidence.
When he lost in the French Open quarterfinals to world number 72 Marco Cecchinato last month, he even suggested he was ready to skip Wimbledon this year as his ranking slipped to 22, his lowest since August 2006.
But the 31-year-old has been rejuvenated at Wimbledon, sweeping into the semifinals for the eighth time.
“My results were not up to the standard that I had before,” said Djokovic after beating Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.