Marathon man Kevin is on fire on Centre Court

South African triumphs in longest ever semi-final – more than six hours

THE Centre Court crowd and millions watching on TV more than got their money’s worth as Kevin Anderson reached his first Wimbledon final with a heart-stopping 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 6-7(9) 6-4 26-24 win over the sport’s perennial ultra marathon man John Isner yesterday.

After being kept on the run for six hours and 36 minutes, the longest ever singles semifinal at the All England Club, how the 32-year-old was still standing was anyone’s guess.

And after two long five-setters in his two last matches Anderson said that grand slam authorities should mull changing their format following his draining semi- final encounter with Isner,

“I really hope this a sign for grand slams to change this format. For us to be out there for that amount of time, I really hope we can address this,” the South African said.

“At the same time I’m through to the final. I’m definitely going to have to recover as much as I can. It’ll take a long time to process what’s happened today but I’m into the final and that’s a dream come true.”

When it was all done and dusted, there were no wild roars, no fist pumping and no raised arms in celebration - all Anderson had left in him was to give Isner a sympathetic hug after he came out on top in the second longest match ever contested at the All England Club.

“I don’t know what to say right now. Just playing like that in those conditions was really tough on both of us. At the end you feel like it is a draw, but someone has to win,” a drained Anderson, who had sensationally beaten defending champion Roger Federer in another nail-biting five setter two days ago, said.

“John is a great guy and I really feel for him. If I was on the opposite side I don’t know how you can take that playing for so long and coming out short... getting through something like that is quite different.

“I’ve known John for such a long time, he is a great guy. To be honest he has pushed me through my career and had a great one himself. I have pushed myself harder because of the success he has had. I have to say congratula- tions to John on a great tournament, semi-finals here is a remarkable achievement and hopefully he can come back stronger.”

Playing Isner who is enshrined in Wimbledon folklore for winning the “endless match” – an 11 hour five minute humdinger against Nicolas Mahut in 2010 – Anderson needed five nerve-shredding sets to topple the American.

A showdown between two tennis skyscrapers – with Isner topping the 6 foot 8 Anderson by two inches – predictably featured three tiebreaks and 102 thunderbolt aces but it was the 32-year-old South African who delivered the knockout blow.

After watching Isner strike a weary forehand wide, Anderson advanced to the Wimbledon final at the 10th time of asking.

The eighth seed will face either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in tomorrow’s final. – Reuters

Below are the five longest Wimbledon’s singles matches.

1 - First round, 2010. John Isner bt Nicolas Mahut (France) 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-6(3) 70-68 - 11hrs 5 mins (record for longest match ever at any venue)

2 - Semi-final, 2018. Kevin Anderson (SA) beat Isner 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 6-7(9) 6-4 26-24 - 6hrs 36mins

3 - Third round, 2012. Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Sam Querrey (U.S.) 7-6(6) 6-4 6-7(2) 6-7(3) 17-15 - 5hrs 31mins

4 - Second round, 1989. Greg Holmes (U.S.) bt Todd Witsken (U.S.) 5-7 6-4 7-6(5) 4-6 14-12 - 5hrs 28mins

5 - First round, 1969. Pancho Gonzales (U.S) bt Charlie Pasarell

(U.S) 22-24 1-6 16-14 6-3 11-9 - 5hrs 12mins

REUTERS STAYING POWER: South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in action during his energy-sapping semi final match against American John Isner yesterday.