Anderson ousts Federer with improbable comeback
Eight-time champ unravels after mounting big lead
LONDON >> Roger Federer was a point away from a rather tidy, straight-set victory in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. One lousy point.
And then, slowly, over the next two-plus hours, all the way until the fifth set reached its 24th game, as the temperature dropped and the spectators’ cries of “Let’s go, Roger!” echoed through the shadows, everything came apart for the eight-time champion against an opponent who’d never beaten him before nor made it this far at the All England Club.
In a stunning turnaround in an unfamiliar setting — No. 1 Court instead of Centre Court — the top-seeded Federer blew a third-set match point and, eventually, all of his big lead in a 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 loss to No. 8 Kevin Anderson in a 4-hour, 14-minute tussle.
“It was just one of those days where you hope to get by somehow,” Federer said. “I almost could have. I should have.”
He was leading by two sets and 5-4 in the third when, with Anderson serving, he got to Ad-Out. He could have ended things then and there. Federer managed to return a 134 mph serve, but on his next stroke, he shanked a backhand.
Back to deuce. From there, it all began to change. Anderson held for 5-all, broke to 6-5 with a violent return winner off a 97 mph second serve, then staved off three break points and closed the set with a 133 mph ace.
The comeback was just beginning.
“I had my chances,” Federer said, “so it’s disappointing.”
This was only the third time in Federer’s 20 years of contesting Grand Slam matches that he lost one after taking the opening two sets; both of the other defeats came in 2011. And, according to the ATP, it’s the fifth time Federer lost a match at a major tournament after holding a match point, something else that last happened seven
years ago.
How hard was it to see this coming?
Federer was 4-0 against Anderson entering the day, winning every set they’d ever played against each other. But there was more. Federer was attempting to reach his 13th semifinal at Wimbledon and move closer to title No. 9, both of which would have broken his own records.
He came into the match having won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon, a run he stretched to 34 before faltering. And he had held serve 81 games in a row at the grasscourt major, a streak that grew to 85 before Anderson broke him a surprising total of four times.
“I just kept on telling myself, ‘I have to keep believing.’ I kept saying that today was going to be my day, because you really need that mindset taking the court against somebody like Roger,” Anderson said.
Not that Anderson is anything other than an elite tennis player. He was, after all, the runner-up at last year’s U.S. Open. That also was the closest he’s come to winning a Grand Slam trophy, while Federer owns 20.
Now the 32-year-old South African moves on to face No. 9 John Isner of the U.S. on Friday. Isner reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by beating 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic of
Canada 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-3, hitting 25 aces and saving the only break point he faced. Isner has won all 95 of his service games in the tournament.
In the other quarterfinal matches, Rafael Nadal had a much tougher time than Novak Djokovic, but both advanced.
After 4 hours, 48 minutes of great tension and, above all, great tennis were done, when Nadal had sealed his 7-5, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal victory, the man he edged, Juan Martin del Potro, was face-down at a Centre Court baseline.
“Emotional match for both of us,” said Nadal, who is ranked No. 1 and seeded No. 2 and won two of his 17 major championships at Wimbledon. “And for the fans, too.”
Three-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic got his wish to play in the main stadium, and he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal since 2016 by beating No. 24 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.