Anderson outlasts Isner, awaits finals opponent
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, above, survived the second-longest match in Wimbledon history Friday, beating John Isner after 6-plus hours and a 26-24 fifth set to reach the finals. He will face the winner of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, whose match was halted because of a curfew.
LONDON — To say that Kevin Anderson won this interminable Wimbledon semifinal Friday, and that John Isner lost it, didn’t really seem fair. To Anderson, anyway.
They had played on and on, through more than 61⁄2 hours of ho-hum hold after ho-hum hold, during the second-longest match in the history of a tournament that began in 1877, all the way until the never-ending serving marathon did, finally, end at 26-24 in the fifth set, with Anderson claiming the most important of the 569 points — the last.
So when Anderson left Centre Court, well aware that his 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24 victory earned him the chance to win his first Grand Slam title at age 32, the South African said: “At the end, you feel like this is a draw between the two of us.”
He continued: “John’s such a great guy, and I really feel for him, because if I’d been on the opposite side, I don’t know how you can take that, playing for so long and coming up short.”
Only one match at Wimbledon ever lasted longer: Isner’s 2010 first-round victory over Nicolas Mahut, the longest match in tennis history. It went more than 11 hours over three days and finished 70-68 in the fifth on Court 18, which now has a plaque commemorating it.
Friday’s contest lasted so long, the day’s second semifinal didn’t finish.
Novak Djokovic was leading Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9) in a compelling showdown filled with entertaining points that was suspended as soon as the third set concluded at just past 11 p.m., the curfew at the All England Club. Some people in the stands booed the decision to halt the match.
Because Nadal and Djokovic didn’t begin playing until after 8 p.m., the retractable roof above the main stadium was shut between the matches and the arena’s lights were turned on. Now they’ll come back Saturday to figure out who will face Anderson in Sunday’s final.
Anderson’s fifth set alone lasted nearly 3 hours as his semifinal became a test of endurance more than skill.
“He stayed the course incredibly well,” said the No. 9 seed Isner, a 33-year-old American playing in his first major semifinal. “Just disappointed to lose. I was pretty close to making a Grand Slam final and it didn’t happen.”
Anderson earned the musthave, go-ahead service break with the help of a point in which the right-hander tumbled to his backside, scrambled back to his feet and hit a shot lefty.
“That definitely brings a smile to my face,” said Anderson, the runner-up to Nadal at last year’s U.S. Open. “At that stage, you’re just trying to fight in every single moment, and I was like, ‘Just get up!’ ”
The No. 8 seed Anderson eliminated eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in a 13-11 fifth set in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Between that and the energy-sapper against Isner, it’s hard to imagine how Anderson will have much left for his second Slam final.
Wimbledon doesn’t use tiebreakers in the fifth set for men, or third set for women, so there’s nothing to prevent a match from continuing indefinitely. Both Isner and Anderson said they’d like to see that change.
“It’s long overdue,” said Isner, who suggested changing the rule to using a tiebreaker at 12-all in the fifth set. “I’m a big part of that, and a big part of this discussion, of course.”
The 6-foot-8 Anderson and 6-10 Isner go way back, to their college days, Isner at Georgia, Anderson at Illinois. In the pros, Isner had won eight of 11 previous matchups. But this one was as close as can be.
There wasn’t a whole lot of intrigue, or momentum shifts. Not a tremendous amount of memorable shot-making, either.
And the serving? Well, that was something else. Isner pounded his at up to 142 mph; Anderson reached 136 mph. They combined for 102 aces: 53 by Isner, 49 by Anderson.
By the latter stages, with break chances so rare, murmurs would spread through the stands whenever a game’s returner got to love-15 or love-30.
By the end, Isner was looking exhausted, leaning over to rest a hand on a knee between points.
“I feel pretty terrible,” Isner said. “My left heel is killing me and I have an awful blister on my right foot.”
He never got a break point in the fifth set. Anderson finally came through on his sixth for a 25-24 lead, when Isner wearily put a backhand into the net.
Then Anderson served out the victory, with Isner sailing a forehand wide on match point.