South African netter Kevin Anderson scored a 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 stunner over Roger Federer to advance into the semifinals of the Wimbledon.
Anderson, who came into the tournament as an eighth seed, will go up against either Milos Raonic or John Isner in the penultimate round this Friday. It was also the first time for Anderson to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
"Down two sets to love I just tried my best to keep fighting and scraped through the third and fourth set. By the end I thought I did a great job. Beating Roger Federer at Wimbledon is one I will remember. I just kept telling myself this will be my day," Anderson said during the post-match interview.
The 32-year-old Anderson hasn't enjoyed much success in major tournaments, but the University of Illinois product competed in 2008 Australian Open and the 2013 Australian and French Opens. Anderson is coming off a heartbreaking finals loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2017 U.S. Open.
Great Start For Federer
Aiming to win his ninth Wimbledon title, the 36-year-old Federer started the match with all guns blazing as he easily dispatched Anderson in the opening set. Anderson tried to mount a comeback in the second when he claimed his first break to put an end to Federer's streak.
The South African also became the first player to break Roger Federer's serve in a Wimbledon tournament since Tomas Berdych did it in the penultimate round last year. Nonetheless, the 20-time Grand Slam winner kept his composure under tremendous pressure to win a 7-6 tiebreaker in the second and more importantly extend his lead to 2-0.
After winning the second set, Federer also tied his own record of 34 consecutive sets won at Wimbledon. The Swiss netter previously set the record in the 2005-2006 edition. Federer entered the match with a tournament record of 85 consecutive service games without being broken.
Massive Comeback By Anderson
Federer seemingly had the game all wrapped up late in the third as he took a 5-4, 40-30 advantage. However, Anderson held his ground and went on to break Federer's serve to take a 6-5 lead before finishing off the latter 7-5.
Playing with all sorts of confidence, Anderson forced a deciding set by outlasting Federer in the fourth 6-4. After a back-and-forth sequence, Anderson took control late in the fifth set as he broke Federer's serve at 11-11 before finishing off the latter with a vicious right-handed serve.
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