Marathon man Kevin prays his rival is tired, too

KEVIN ANDERSON began the year losing to Kyle Edmund in the first round of the Australian Open, an unlikely precursor to his first Wimbledon final today against Novak Djokovic. But then the 32-year-old South African (left) is used to building up from humble beginnings, having cut his teeth playing a Futures-level event in Botswana.

It will come as no surprise to anyone who saw his classy, immediate post-match interview that the gentle giant is highly-respected in the locker room. He is vice-president of the ATP player council and is leading an environmental campaign to ban the use of plastic covers on freshly-strung rackets.

None of this will help him today in his second Grand Slam final though. Anderson did not even book a practice court yesterday, instead focusing on treatment and trying to loosen up after the marathon match against John Isner, which followed his four hours-plus quarter-final against Roger Federer.

He is resilient and blessed with a strong work ethic, which enabled him to overcome a long-term hip injury.

The recovery has led to an Indian summer in his career, and it can only be hoped he will pull up in some sort of

shape to mount a proper challenge today. The balance will have been redressed somewhat by Djokovic having played for a total of five hours and 15 minutes.

It could be, however, that the failure to introduce a fifth set tiebreak after the Isner versus Nicolas Mahut match in 2010 will come to be seen as the oversight which contributed to a deflating men’s final in 2018.