Wimbledon 2018: Kevin Anderson's immense stamina, court coverage stands out in semi-final win over John Isner

On Friday, on Centre Court at the iconic SW19, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson defeated John Isner in a marathon five-set match, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 26-24. The match lasted a staggering six hours and thirty-six minutes, nearly three times the previous average length of a men’s singles tennis match. In that time, you could get through half a season of your favourite TV show, or watch The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – two times over, with time to spare. [caption id=“attachment_4739661” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] South Africa’s Kevin Anderson celebrates his victory over John Isner. AFP[/caption] ‘Marathon’ is a word one might usually associate with that iconic 42km stretch. But on Friday, and indeed, at a number of Grand Slams, we associate it now with big serves, huge shots and most importantly of all, incredible stamina from two players on either side of the net. While one might not be able to extract an exact comparison between those two sports, the fact that is that tennis - and especially a long match such as this one, requires an all-round endurance that few players can muster. Last night’s win sent South African ace Anderson back into the ATP top-10 – and while the timeline and scoreline may hint at the levels of endurance and the amount of effort that went into the match, the statistics paint an even more vivid picture.

The longest match in Grand Slam history, which also involved John Isner, took place at Wimbledon 2010, and many of us might even remember having watched parts, or all, of that match, which went on for three days and broke a number of long-standing tennis records. Due to the fact that Wimbledon, like the Australian and French Opens, follows a no tie-break rule, the final set of that match went on longer than the entirety of the previous longest match. Friday’s semi-final, however, remains the longest match played in a single day. One of the players involved in Friday’s Wimbledon semi-final is no stranger to a long match. American Isner, currently ranked World No 10, is considered one of the best servers in tennis today. The 6 ft 10 behemoth has been having perhaps the best year of his career after clinching his first ATP Masters title in Miami. To put in clear perspective just how much endurance and stamina came into play during Friday’s semi-final, Isner travelled a total of 15701.7 feet* – or 4.78km across the court – all while executing accurate serves, keeping his eye on the ball, and planning his next move in the game. The man on the other side of the net –Anderson – is his country’s biggest success story in the sport. Where the average tennis watcher might be hard-pressed to name another player from his country, Anderson has made a success story of his time on the college circuit and, like Isner, a successful transition into full-time tennis. Interestingly, Anderson and Isner are the only two former collegiate tennis players in the ATP top-10. The pair’s semi-final clash saw a total of 99 games played, the third-highest in tennis history, and the second-highest at a Grand Slam. Anderson, who like Isner stands at nearly 7 feet tall, is also a proficient server of the ball – and it is not his first rodeo with long matches. Endurance in one match is perhaps significant enough, but Anderson is now fresh off two long matches, with his quarter-final against reigning Wimbledon champion and all-time great Roger Federer going to five sets as well. In the semis, Anderson covered a distance of 14576.3 ft, or 4.44 kilometres. In his quarter-final against Federer, the tall South African covered a distance of 3.46 kilometres on court. It is not just immense stamina – which every player involved displayed to a mammoth degree, but concentration, planning and shot execution, the biggest parts of the match. Between those two matches, Anderson mustered 77 aces and only seven double faults – clean statistics, notwithstanding just how long each match continued. What is a servebot, and why is height important? Long marathon matches are most often than not the purview of serve and volley players, and both Anderson and Isner are what is popularly known in tennis parlance, servebots. While today, the term is much-maligned, these are the players a competitor would be wary of in their side of the draw. That wariness increases manifold on a surface best suited to a serve-and-volley player, such as grass – and what grasscourt is more prestigious than Wimbledon? Most servebots are a minimum of 6 ft 5in tall, with Anderson and Isner more than fulfilling that category. Nicolas Mahut, Isner’s last competitor in a match this long, falls just under at 6 ft 3, while Ivo Karlovic – perhaps the most iconic server of them all, is even taller than Isner, at 6ft 11. That height makes up the largest part of the mechanical portion of the serve – but then again, in comes the stamina, the endurance – and the strength to go back and forth, moving across the court, and serving and volleying for hours on end. Servebot-oriented games have been criticised for their monotony, and although they might not necessarily be as stylistic, or traditionally quick and aggressive like baseline oriented matches, they offer a view into a skill that is all its own. Does tennis always have to be aggressive, quick shots? Long matches give us a view into not just skill and raw power, but into exceptional serving. In a time when the past few years have, perhaps, seen a paradigm shift towards baseline play, this could well mark the return of the enduring server – at least on one surface. Either one of Anderson’s two possible opponents on Sunday will be an aggressive baseliner; while Anderson’s phenomenal serves will serve as a weapon in his arsenal, current World No 1 Rafael Nadal and former number one Novak Djokovic are among the top three returners of the game, the other being Andre Agassi. Considering Anderson is off two back-to-back five-set matches, fatigue could well catch up to him – but with Nadal and Djokovic looking to be on the back of their own long match, it will be an intriguing clash of styles at the finals of Wimbledon this year. Only one player in recent memory has embodied every style of tennis and been a phenomenal server while not being a ‘servebot’ - and that player is, at 36, the current World No 2. While fans will miss watching the reigning champion, Roger Federer, take the stage, this final promises to provide entertainment and something different, perhaps, than any Wimbledon final in recent memory. * all stats provided by IBM slam tracker on Wimbledon official site