The hidden side of politics

Anderson stuns Federer in 5 sets, reaches semis

Reported by ESPN:

LONDON — Hard-serving Kevin Anderson, having lost the first two sets, fought off a match point and came storming back to stun top-seeded Roger Federer on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Anderson, the eighth seed, knocked off the eight-time champion 2-6, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, 13-11.

In the process, Anderson ended two impressive streaks by Federer — 34 consecutive sets won at the All England Club, tying his own record, and 85 service games here without being broken.

Federer fell to 266-3 in career Grand Slam matches where he won the first two sets.

They were playing on Court No. 1 — Federer’s first match away from Centre Court since the same stage of the tournament in 2015. The match was played there after Novak Djokovic, having played three of his opening four matches away from Centre Court, had his request to play in the main stadium granted.

Djokovic also advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal since 2016, shrugging off a second-set slump to beat Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Federer had a match point in the third set at 4-5, 30-40 but failed to take it, before Anderson broke in the following game to earn the opportunity to serve out the set. Anderson then saved three break points, hitting an ace to force a fourth set.

Meanwhile, after dropping the second set to Nishikori, Djokovic wrested back the momentum for good in the third, coming from 0-40 down at 2-2 to hold serve. He then broke the serve of his Japanese opponent in the next game.

The three-time Wimbledon champion was broken in the opening game of the fourth set, but won the next four games and broke again to clinch victory.

Djokovic looked in control in the first set. But he grew frustrated after failing to capitalize on three straight break points in the third game of the second set and was given a code violation after slamming his racket into the ground.

When Nishikori then bounced his own racket against the court in the fourth set without being given a warning, Djokovic yelled out “double standards” toward the umpire’s chair — drawing boos from the Centre Court crowd.

That didn’t seem to affect his focus, though, and neither did a time violation he was given when serving at 4-2, 30-30 in the fourth set.

Djokovic secured that game with a forehand winner, then saved two game points on Nishikori’s serve before converting his first match point with a forehand down the line.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source:ESPN

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