LONDON—Certainly it was going to be a shootout. The possibility existed that it would also be a marathon. On this Friday the 13th, both occurred, and while Kevin Anderson proved in the end to be the richer man for it, one was left wondering what tennis had gained as a result of what has arguably became a dysfunctional approach to grand finales.
Over the course of six hours and 36 minutes, Anderson had beaten John Isner in the semis of Wimbledon by the surrealistic score of 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 6-4, 26-24. The final set lasted five minutes short of three hours. If in one sense the battle was dramatic amid the high-wire act of watching these two big servers go toe-to-toe, in another, the trench warfare of the fifth was ridiculous in excess. Surely, now is the time for majors such as Wimbledon to consider ending decisive sets in tiebreakers—perhaps even, as Isner suggested following this match, at 12-all.
For here is the question: Who was playing it out good for? Certainly the fans were eager for Anderson-Isner to end. The first four sets had lasted nearly four hours. As the fifth went on, the spectators who’d packed Centre Court only grew vocal when one of the two players had an opening on the other’s serve. They weren’t cheering for Anderson or Isner. They were cheering for closure, for the overtime set to end and the next semi—pitting Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic—to begin. When Anderson at last broke Isner at 24-all, cheers erupted on the scale of a Davis Cup tie. The fans commenced the wave. Anderson served it out at 15. A thunderous standing ovation ensued.
Said Anderson, “I don't know what got me through today's match other than just a will to try to succeed, keep pushing myself…I tried as much as I could to just keep fighting. I take a lot of pride in that. Fortunately, I was able to find a way over the finish line.”
Perhaps the most notable statistic was that of the 569 points played in this match, 264 were service winners (including 49 aces for Anderson, 53 for Isner).
WATCH—Match point from Anderson's win over Isner in the Wimbledon semifinals: