The semi-final match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner wasn't supposed to be today's marquee event at Wimbledon. The other semi-final pitted two great champions, Novak Djokovich and Rafael Nadal, both of whom are up there with Roger Federer and Andy Murray as the best in the business on the men's side. ESPN, covering the tournament, assigned its top flight announcing team of John McEnroe and Chris Fowler to Raffa versus the Djoker. Both have won Wilmbledon in the past. They have a long rivalry, moreover, and the winner is sure to be the favorite in the final.
But today belonged to John Isner and Kevin Anderson. They played superlatively in a match so even that the fifth set itself took nearly three hours. Anderson emerged triumphant if exhausted in the fiftieth game of that set.
Isner, the lone American left standing as we entered the day, stands tall: a graduate of the University of Georgia, who played for the Bulldogs in college, he is six feet ten. Anderson, a South African who played for the University of Illinois, is only two inches shorter. They have known each other since their college days more than ten years ago, and they are great friends. They are also veterans of fifth-set drama.
Two days ago Kevin Anderson (pictured left) pulled off a major upset that no one had foreseen. Down two sets to none to the peerless Federer, Anderson rallied and won the next three sets, the last one in overtime. If the players are tied at six games apiece, most sets culminate in a tiebreaker, which is won by the first player to gain seven points and a margin of two more than the opponent. But not in the fifth set -- not at Wimbledon. The fifth set keeps going until one player achieves a two game advantage. The final score of the final set of Anderson versus Federer was 13-11 in favor of the blonde South African.
For his part Isner played in the longest match in all of Wimbledon history. Back in 2010, he and Nicolas Mahut of France had split four close sets when they reached a six games to six deadlock in the decisive fifth set. The outcome: after 138 games, Isner won, 70 to 68. By whatever metric you use (time of play, number of games), it was the longest tennis match on record and it took three days to complete, because the failing evening light in London caused the match to be suspended twice. Both men hit over 100 aces in what people called the "endless match."
More was on the line today. In 2010 Isner played Mahut in a preliminary round. Today's winner would play in the finals where he would have, depending on how you look at it, either a 50-50 chance at emerging as champion (if you are a strict observer of chaos theory) or a three in ten shot (if you're in Las Vegas and you anticipate that Raffa or the Djoker will win it all).
When Anderson and Isner started their fifth set today, they had already played three tie-breaks. You can't get more even than that. It was easy, watching these men, to see how like one another they are. Both have towering serves. They can reach 144 mph and they serve with a deadly accuracy that is unfortunately not matched by an equal adroitness at return of serve. But while as a result there were many short games, the quality of play was very high when serves were effectively returned. I marveled over the number of balls that kissed the line separating the rectangular grass of play from the surrounding area with the umpires, the linesmen, the ball boys and ball girls, the folding chairs with the towels, the water, and the Gatorade, to which the players may repair for precious seconds between sets.
From the quality of play, you could see that both Anderson and Isner were on their game. Both had the look of determination, the look of fury, that marks a winner. Neither was willing to capitulate, and though they were not hitting nearly as hard at the end as four hours earlier, that was more than understandable. It was a case of excellence matching excellence -- and an object lesson in how competitive opponents can bring out the best in each other.
To give you a sense of how remarkable that fifth set was -- and to urge you to watch it for yourself at 1 AM Saturday morning on ESPN -- suffice it to say that a typical set may require as few as six games, if the match is one-sided, or as many as thirteen, if the players are even at six games and a tiebreaker renders the verdict. At Wimbledon, for the sake of tradition, and because it seems a little loony to have a five-set match hinge on who can be the first to rack up seven points, the players go on until someone has a two-game advantage. .
People will rethink the rules because of today's historic match. Proponents of a fifth-set tiebreaker will have new ammunition. The match went on for more than six hours, which may be a treat for those of us who love good tennis and know we are watching history. For the players, however, it was a brutal ordeal notwithstanding the joy of movement and the rush of adrenaline. For the loser, it is going to be hard to shrug off the defeat or move on past the "might-have-been" mental replays of a chance missed. I wonder: Were the players allowed to take a bathroom break during the match? As for the players' spouses, trainers, managers, and partisans, the words "unbearable suspense" were coined with this match in mind. Just watch Mrs Djokovich's face when her husband hits the court against Nadal.
Anderson and Isner play power tennis. They don't cover the court with the finesse of a Nadal or a Federer who may rush the net or slice a topspin into a far corner. Anderson and Isner play baseline games, returning hard hit ground strokes with equal velocity. If one play stands out from all the rest today, it has to be the one toward the very end when Anderson, who is right-handed, fell down hitting a ball and got up in time to return the next shot with his left hand. He won that point, and anyone who saw it will not forget it.
I admire these players not only because they are magnificent athletes with magnificent bodies who perform brilliantly under pressure, but because they appear to be as gracious with their words as they are graceful in action. After more than six hours of play. the guys managed to be gracious at press conferences convened before they could even shower. On his Twitter page Anderson thanked John: "it's an honour to share this piece of history with you." The English spelling of "honour" proves he's South African, though when he speaks it is with what used to be called a mid-Atlantic accent.
What about Nadal and Djokovich? They got started, played three tough sets, and were forced to suspend the match because there is an 11 PM curfew at Wimbledon. (The trains stop running around half past.) It is a great match -- already -- and I can't wait to see its end tomorrow morning. John McEnroe, known for his temper tantrums as a player, is one of the most astute play-by-play men covering any sport, and a tip of the old fedora goes to him, to his brother Patrick, to Darren Cahill, Brad Gilbert, Chris Evert, Pam Shriver, et al, who are calling the games for ESPN. The fans, too, deserve accolades: they murmur like Virgil's bees between points but the hush that comes over the arena when play resumes is palpable.
But tonight my toast is dedicated to Kevin Anderson and John isner, two classy guys with a lot of heart. I recommend the Wimbledon cocktail: two ounces of Pimm's, two ounces of a good English gin (Boodles or Beefeater), a half ounce of Cointreau or Giffard's grapefruit liqueur, the juice of a lemon, fill with ice cubes and club soda.
Alternatively (weaker but more decorative): two ounces Pimm's, two ounces gin, three ounces lemonade Boodles or Broker's), three ounces lemonade or Limonata (San Pellegrino), one ounce club soda, one lemon wheel, ice cubes, top with club soda. Optional: teaspoon of Cointreau; thin cucumber wheel; thin orange wheel; pitted cherry.
DL
Thank you very much! I agree, it may not have been the most aesthetic or varied tennis ever, but it was stunning and the day belonged to Anderson and Isner.
Posted by: Tamara Glenny | July 14, 2018 at 07:35 AM