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After two pulsating semi-finals, we are down to the final two men at Wimbledon, with Kevin Anderson and Novak Djokovic to square off for tennis’ holy grail in tonight’s final (AEST).
Between them, Anderson and Djokovic had to endure three marathon five-set matches just to reach the final.
Anderson, the first man representing his country to reach the final at Wimbledon in nearly a century, edged out Roger Federer and John Isner in consecutive matches where the final set in those two matches went to 13-11 and 26-24 respectively.
His marathon win against Isner therefore delayed Djokovic’s semi-final against Rafael Nadal, which was suspended on Saturday morning (AEST) with the Serb leading two-sets-to-one when the clock ticked past the curfew.
When play resumed, the 31-year-old dropped the fourth set but then held his nerve to edge out his Spanish rival, winning 10-8 in the final set after breaking him in the eighteenth and final game.
That match, in turn, delayed the ladies’ final in which Angelique Kerber defeated Serena Williams to win her third Major title and prevent the American from equalling Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Major singles titles held by a man or woman, for now.
A full recap of that final will follow in my annual Wimbledon review, which will be provided later this week.
But back on topic now, and Novak Djokovic will be hoping to end a Major title drought of over two years, having not saluted since he completed his set of Grand Slam titles at the 2016 French Open.
(Photo by TPN/Getty Images)
Since then, the Serb has fallen down the rankings after enduring a serious elbow injury which saw him drop out of the world’s top 20 for the first time since October 2006.
However, in recognition of his impressive record on grass courts in recent years, which included reaching the final at Queen’s in the lead-up to Wimbledon and winning three times at SW19, Djokovic was given a seeding of 12th by the seeding committee at the All England Club.
He defeated the likes of Tennys Sandgren, Kyle Edmund and Kei Nishikori to reach the semi-finals of a Major for the first time since the 2016 US Open, where he then faced world number one Rafael Nadal.
As mentioned above, the Serb defeated his Spanish rival in five sets for the first time since the final of the 2012 Australian Open to advance to his first Major final in nearly two years.
Standing in his way of a 13th Major title is South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, who has advanced to his second Grand Slam final after winning two of the most enduring matches of this year’s Championships.
Firstly, he fell two-sets-to-love down and faced a match point in the third set of his quarter-final match against Roger Federer before climbing out of the canvas to pull off a stunning five-set victory and become just the third man (after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Djokovic) to beat him from two sets down.
He then edged out John Isner in the longest semi-final in Wimbledon history with the final set lasting 50 games.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
The fact that he was able to get a full day’s rest following that match, as opposed to Djokovic who required two days to complete his semi-final win against Rafael Nadal, could work into the South African’s hands if what happened at the 2015 French Open is anything to go by.
At that tournament, Stan Wawrinka was able to get a full day’s rest after winning his semi-final match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Djokovic and Andy Murray had to duke out their semi-final across two days after poor weather stopped the Serb in his tracks.
Here is everything you need to know heading into tonight’s Wimbledon’s men’s singles final.
[8] Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs [12] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Sunday, July 16
2:00pm (local time)
Centre Court
Head-to-head
All matches: Djokovic 5-1
At Grand Slams: Djokovic 2-0
At Wimbledon: Djokovic 2-0
In finals: First meeting
Last meeting: Djokovic won 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5, fourth round, Wimbledon 2015.
Kevin Anderson’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Norbet Gombos (SVK) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Round 2: defeated Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4
Round 3: defeated [25] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-3, 7-5, 7-5
Round 4: defeated Gael Monfils (FRA) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4)
Quarter-finals: defeated [1] Roger Federer (SUI) 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11
Semi-finals: defeated [9] John Isner (USA) 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, 26-24
Novak Djokovic’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Tennys Sandgren (USA) 6-3, 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: defeated Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
Round 3: defeated [21] Kyle Edmund (GBR) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Round 4: defeated Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Quarter-finals: defeated [24] Kei Nishikori (JPN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Semi-finals: defeated [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 3-6, 10-8
The stats that matter
* This will be Kevin Anderson’s second Grand Slam final (0-1), and first at Wimbledon, while for Novak Djokovic this will be his 22nd Grand Slam final (12-9) and fifth at Wimbledon (3-1), but first since the 2016 US Open and first at Wimbledon since 2015.
* Anderson is shooting for his first Grand Slam title, Djokovic his 13th.
* Anderson is the first man representing South Africa to reach the Wimbledon final in nearly a century.
* Anderson is the sixth different opponent Djokovic has faced in a Grand Slam final (after Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka).
* Djokovic, currently ranked 21st (but seeded 12th in recognition of his recent good record on grass courts) is the lowest-ranked male player to reach the final at Wimbledon since Mark Philippoussis in 2003 (he, of course, was the first victim of Roger Federer in a Grand Slam final).
* He is also the first 12th seed to reach the final at Wimbledon since Tomas Berdych in 2010.
* This will be the first time that Djokovic has faced an opponent ranked at least three places higher than him in a Major final. Further, this is the first time he has reached a Major final while being ranked outside the top 20.
* Djokovic is the only man out of tennis’ ‘Big Four’ to reach a Grand Slam final with such a lowly ranking. Roger Federer was the previously lowest-ranked, being ranked 17th when he won the Australian Open last year.
* This is the first Grand Slam final Djokovic has qualified for after turning 30 in May last year.
* This is the first Wimbledon final since 1996, and first Grand Slam final since the 2002 French Open, not to feature a top ten seed.
Prediction
Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
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