Kevin Anderson’s dream of becoming the first South African to win Wimbledon may have turned to dust, but he will be rewarded with a career-high top-five ranking and the respect of everyone who witnessed his incredible feats of endurance.
Riddled by nerves and plagued by fatigue, Anderson slumped to a three-set loss against Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s showpiece.
But he has vowed to use the pain of his Wimbledon final defeat as fuel to finally win a Grand Slam title.
“This is such an amazing tournament for all of us players and we dedicate our whole lives to fight for a spot to be on this court,” Anderson said after he was outclassed by Djokovic following his marathon run to the final.
“Over the last few years, there have only been a few individuals who’ve made it out here, so that’s what it had to take for me to get here.
“I would have given another 21 hours to have the opportunity to play here.”
Anderson must have felt he had already played a few championship matches over the past week as he produced some super-human performances to stay alive.
He incredibly came from match point down to topple eight-time champion Roger Federer 13-11 in the fifth set of a quarterfinal that lasted more than four hours.
He then survived the longest-ever semifinal played at any of the majors when he went toe-to-toe with American John Isner for six hours and 36 minutes before finally delivering the knockout punch to win the fifth set 26-24.
His reward? A dip in the icebath to give his sore and swollen feet, and “jelly-like” legs a chance to recover.
Unfortunately for Anderson, the 43-hour gap he had between the end of his semifinal on Friday and the start of Sunday’s showpiece was simply not enough to get his fatigued and battle-weary body ready for the biggest match of his life.
“I barely slept on Friday night. Saturday was pretty tough,” Anderson, who has now lost two major finals in 10 months after finishing runnerup to Nadal at the 2017 US Open, said.
“Seeing the doctors, seeing the podiatrist for my feet.
“There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind – ‘Am I going to be ready to play another five-set match on Sunday against somebody like Novak?’
“I really worked hard, and came within a point of pushing us to the fourth set.
“But Novak’s a champion of our sport and congratulations to him and his team.”
It was not all doom and gloom for the 32-year-old – as his progress to the final allowed him to break into the top five of the world rankings for the first time.
“Two and a half years ago we [set up] a chat on WhatsApp called top-five Kev. That was the goal,” he said.
“Then obviously I had a major setback and injuries in 2016.
“So seeing that I made top five, I’m incredibly proud of that achievement, especially if I look back where I was just 15 months ago – around 80 in the rankings.” Anderson is adamant his run to a first Wimbledon final proves he is getting closer to Grand Slam glory.
“The main thing is if I look at the improvements I’m making, I feel like it’s getting better.
“I definitely believe I have the game to win these tournaments,” he said.
“If you asked me this time a year ago, I don’t think I could sit here and say I really believe that I can win a Grand Slam. “I feel I’m on a great path. “I have a lot of belief I can put myself into another one of these matches, and hopefully have the result I’m looking for.”
The first South African man to reach the Wimbledon title match for 97 years, Anderson admitted he was wracked with anxiety and exhaustion as Djokovic swept through the first two sets.
He improved in the third set, but it was too late to halt Djokovic’s charge to a fourth Wimbledon title. Novak Djokovic raced to a fourth Wimbledon title and 13th career Grand Slam crown on Sunday when he defeated a battling but exhausted Kevin Anderson 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7/3).
World No 21 Djokovic added the 2018 title to his wins in 2011, 2014 and 2015 as he became the lowest-ranked champion since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.
It also took his Slam total to within one of Pete Sampras and just four behind the 17 of Rafael Nadal whom he defeated in the semifinals.
Anderson, the eighth seed, was the first South African to reach the men’s singles final since Brian Norton was runner-up in 1921. When SA-born Kevin Curren contested the 1985 final, he was playing as an American citizen.
In the 1960 women’s final, SA’s Sandra Reynolds Price lost to Maria Bueno.
Anderson had spent 21 hours on court getting to the final and that marathon effort came back to haunt him despite a late rally when he had five set points in the third set.
Victory was Djokovic’s first at the majors since he completed the career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2016.
It came just a month after he threatened to skip Wimbledon after a quarter-loss exit in Paris and with his ranking at its lowest in more than a decade.
Weary Anderson had needed five sets and saved a match point to beat Roger Federer in the last-eight. He then played six hours and 36 minutes to defeat John Isner in the semis in the second-longest singles match played at a Grand Slam.
It was hardly surprising that he suffered a dramatic power failure in the first two sets against a player who he had defeated only once in six previous meetings and that was 10 years ago.
Having arrived in the final with 172 aces to his name, he managed just 10 on Sunday.
He also failed to convert any of his seven break points.
Anderson, sluggish in the 30°C heat, was broken on a double fault in the first game.
Djokovic broke again in the fifth game on his way to securing the opener. He conceded just three points on his serve.
In the first Wimbledon final featuring two players over 30, Anderson’s chances looked slim when he called for treatment on his upper right arm during the changeover.
The second set followed, Djokovic again breaking in the first and fifth games and fighting off the only break point he faced in the eighth game.
Late in the set, the exhausted Anderson’s total number of games played in his seven matches at Wimbledon set a new record for the most ever in one edition of the tournament.
He battled in the third set where he had five set points but all were saved by Djokovic, who won when the South African netted a return.