Kevin Anderson Beats John Isner In Most Exciting* Match Of All Time!
KEVIN Anderson edges John Isner 7-6 6-7 6-7 6-4 26-24 in what will no doubt go down in tennis history as the greatest match of all time.
Forget Nadal vs Federer in 2008, Borg vs McEnroe in 1980; no match has or ever will match the drama, quality or intensity of this ...thrilling... display of serving.
Kevin Anderson, the slender 6"8 South African, possibly the most inoffensive player on the tour. John Isner, the 6"10 American, 97% limbs and known for his incredibly exciting, serve-laden brand of tennis.
For 6 hours and 36 minutes, the two giants bombarded each other with 130mph+ serves. No need for things like finesse, agility or lung-busting 20-shot rallies.
In the brilliant first set, the pair aced their way into a tiebreak, with Anderson edging the lofty American 8-6 after an hour and three minutes. Amazingly, the second set also ended in a tiebreak. And the third...
In the fourth set, though, the quality of tennis reached dizzying heights when both miraculously managed to hit some returns in the court and break serve, to the complete surprise of the players and crowd alike.
Anderson eventually took the set 6-4 and the match into a decider we're sure the whole tennis world was eager to see.
"The fourth set was disappointing", said Isner. "I'm not really used to people returning my serve and having to play a shot after that, so when Kevin actually got it back a few times, I didn't really know what to do."
But nothing would prepare the players or the crowd for the fifth set. No tiebreaks, just awe-inspiring, seemingly infinite service games. Ace after ace, the serving machines battled it out for 175 minutes to see who could string more than three shots together in a return game.
In the end, it was Anderson who managed the awesome feat, breaking in the 49th game and serving it out for the right to lose to either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in the final.
"It hasn't fully sunk in yet, but it was the most exciting match I've ever been a part of, probably the best of all time," said Anderson. "We both obviously served really well, hit a lot of aces, which always makes for a great spectacle. No long rallies, but who likes those?
"It's a shame this match wasn't the final, really. Instead, I'll have to play Rafa or Novak, not exactly the most exciting players on the tour."
