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South African Kevin Anderson and American John Isner will clash in the first Wimbledon semi-final. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 10pm (AEST).
When records are talked about at Wimbledon, the mind immediately goes back to 2010 and a classic involving Isner and Nicolas Mahut. The match ended 70-68 in the final set, with Isner winning after 11 hours and nine minutes.
While that mark is never likely to be broken, this is a match-up which could well provide something of that nature.
Anderson and Isner are two of the biggest-serving players on tour, seeing them both rise up the world rankings. With good volleying and net play from both, it’s not hard to see why they both excel on grass.
With that said, neither have their serve broken often, and neither break other players’ serves all that often – certainly not big servers.
That gives the recipe for a long match if it lasts to the fifth set, with the first four all likely to be decided by tiebreakers unless one of the players has an off service game here or there.
Anderson is going to bring untold confidence into this match, having come back from two sets down against Roger Federer to take the fifth 13-11. Federer had won 34 straight sets at the All England Club, so to lose three straight was a major shock, with Anderson right at the top of his game.
That match will leave him under heavy fatigue though, having spent more than four hours on court.
Isner hasn’t had the same taxing level of play, only playing a single five-set match, in the second round.
The pair have played on 12 previous occasions, with Isner leading the ledger 8-4. Still, their last meeting was in 2015 and Anderson has had exponential improvement since then, so the record can almost be tossed out the window.
Prediction
Isner has a track record of cracking on the big stage, while Anderson is going to be heavily fatigued after the Federer epic. Still, the South African should advance to his second grand slam final.
Anderson in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the first semi-final at Wimbledon from 10pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.