John Isner and Kevin Anderson are in the middle of a titanic struggle that has become the longest match in Centre Court history and the second-longest match in Wimbledon history—besides that other 11 hour and five minute piece of work by Isner. It’s currently 17-16 in the fifth, and it might sound dramatic, even epic, but not if you are Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who have been stuck in the locker room waiting for this match to end.
Now it appears that Djokovic and Nadal may not even be able to finish their semifinal tonight if and when they get on. And even if they do get on they will have to play much of the match under the roof because it will be dark!
We’ll have a recap of the match for you later, but for now here’s a sampling of the banter on Twitter, which is really quite upbeat and funny at the moment.
UPDATE: Anderson came through with the 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-7(9), 6-4, 26-24 victory. It was the longest Centre Court match in Wimbledon history and the second-longest match in tournament history. Anderson will face the winner of the Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic semifinal, which will likely not be completed on Friday because it was delayed so long and did not start until after 8PM. Wimbledon has a strict 11PM curfew. Nadal and Djokovic split the first two sets.
1. Yep, it’s long.
2. And it keeps going, and going, AND GOING.
3. The crowd is getting antsy.
4. WE sure hope so.
5. Bring on Rafa!
6. No lucky 13 in this match.
7. U.S. Open has jokes!
8. And Novak is playing marbles.
9. Go ahead and get dinner, you won’t miss much…
10. Christmas is coming.
11. Hooray, John Isner broke a record!
12. The madness prevails.
13. Seriously, tiebreak at 12-all makes a lot of sense, right?
14. Inquiring minds do want to know…
15. At 21-all….
16. And finally, it ends—Anderson is the winner!
17. Anderson is a sporting hero at Wimbledon and in his home country.
18. Anderson is already calling for change to the no tiebreak in the fifth set rule…
19. This remarkable left-handed forehand was the shot of the match!
20. Will this be the last never-ending epic in tennis history? Stay tuned to find out...