TENNIS BATTLE OF THE BIG GUNS AS DJOKOVIC AND NADAL CLASH FOR PLACE IN FINAL
Graham Caygill takes a look at Friday’s semi-finals at Wimbledon and picks out the winning pair
Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal
It is hard to believe, given how dominant both players have been during their careers, with 29 grand slam titles between them, that Friday’s match will be the first time that Djokovic and Nadal have played each other at Wimbledon since the 2011 final.
On that occasion it was Djokovic who prevailed and the Serbian can certainly go on to Centre Court optimistic against the world No 1.
Djokovic is playing his best tennis for two years and appears to have finally put injuries and poor form behind him.
The mental strength, arguably the characteristic that propelled him to world No 1 for the first time in 2011 and kept him at the top of the game for five years, is back.
He was superb in coming from a set down to beat home favourite Kyle Edmund in the third round and then in bouncing back to beat Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals after dropping the second set.
However, Djokovic has not faced anything yet at Wimbledon of the level of Nadal.
The Spaniard had not made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon since his 2011 final defeat to Djokovic, and this run to the last four has been a welcome surprise for the All England Club.
The 2008 and 2010 champion is competitive on grass again, and any doubts of his credentials as a potential champion again were put to bed after the way he prevailed over Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in five sets.
There are still come question marks over both men: can Djokovic keep this level up? Can Nadal’s body stand up to another tough test less than 48 hours after playing for almost five hours against Del Potro?
Djokovic, for all his encouraging form, has only beaten one top 10 player this season – Grigor Dimitrov – and an in-form Nadal is a big step up on Edmund and Nishikori.
Nadal to prevail and move to within one match of repeating his 2008 and 2010 feats of winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles back-to-back.
Kevin Anderson v John Isner
Opportunity knocks for both men here with a shot at a first Wimbledon final.
Anderson made his breakthrough last September by reaching the US Open final, where he lost to Nadal.
The South African, who won the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi in December, had been confident he would carry that form into 2018. That didn’t exactly materalise initially, as he went out in the first round of the Australian Open, but he has sinced built up a solid season.
The world No 8’s victory over Roger Federer in the quarter-final was arguably the best result of his career. To come from two sets down, facing a match point in the process, in front of a pro-Federer crowd, and win was an excellent achievement.
The pressure now is for him to build on that win.
He faces another player, in John Isner, who is in his first grand slam semi-final after coming out on top of his battle of the big servers with Milos Raonic.
Isner’s fierce serve has always been a huge weapon, but he has added consistency to the rest of his game at this year’s Wimbledon.
With Anderson 32 and Isner 33, both men will know they might not have many more chances to reach a major final, which will only add to the pressure of today’s encounter.
Prediction: Kevin Anderson to win 3-0
This will be another match dominated by serve. Isner’s held firm to see off Raonic, while Anderson’s withstood a considerable going over from Federer in their clash, so both are firing well.
Anderson has a little more to his game at the back of the court, and the consistency and length of his groundstrokes forced Federer in to a number of unforced errors.
Anderson’s experience of having already won a grand slam semi-final may also be a factor here.
A brave effort from Isner but it is Anderson who will reach the final.