One point away from winning, Roger Federer, left, eventually loses to Kevin Anderson.
LONDON — Some speculated that a competitive match Wednesday would sharpen top-seeded Roger Federer for the Wimbledon semifinals. Others fretted that such a match might wear him out, when he would need that energy to win the tournament for a ninth time.
In the end, it was door No. 3: a jaw-dropping defeat, a surprising Fed-exit.
The so-called “King of Grass” was unceremoniously clipped, with 6-foot-8 South African Kevin Anderson coming back from the brink of defeat to win 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11. The match lasted four hours, 14 minutes.
“The toughest thing when playing somebody (such as) Roger in this setting is giving yourself a chance,” said Anderson, who will play American John Isner in a semifinal Friday. “The times I’ve played him before, or other guys with his ranking and history, I haven’t really allowed myself to play.”
This time Anderson gave himself a chance and capitalized.
“There’s nothing that really shocked me because I’ve seen Kevin play many, many times in the past,” said Federer, who was 4-0 against Anderson. “Even if the matches have been sometimes one-sided (and) I didn’t lose sets against him, you always know he can pick it up, and all of a sudden you won’t see breaks for some time.”
What the world won’t see is a Sunday rematch of Federer and Rafael Nadal, who 10 years ago played a Wimbledon final widely considered the best match in the history of the sport.
Nadal, a winner over Juan Martin del Potro in five sets, will play threetime Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who beat Kei Nishikori in four sets, in the other semifinal.
Few envisioned such an ending for Federer, especially after he won the first two sets to match his tournament record of 34 consecutive sets won. He said he wasn’t disheartened when Anderson forced a fifth set but admitted afterward he felt “horribly fatigued and just awful.”
“But that’s how it goes,” Federer said. “Credit to him.”