1 of 3 | South Africa's Kevin Anderson returns the ball in his match against Switzerland's Roger Federer in the men's quarterfinals of the 2018 Wimbledon championships on Wednesday in London. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI |
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July 11 (UPI) -- South Africa's Kevin Anderson upset top seed Roger Federer on Wednesday at Wimbledon, but needed 4:14 to complete the task in London.
"I'm not quite sure what to say right now but down two sets, I really just tried my best to keep fighting," Anderson told the BBC in his post-match interview. "I was able to scrape through that third set and the fourth set and by the end I thought I did a great job of not thinking about things too much. I felt I was really in the flow of the match.
"Beating Roger Federer here at Wimbledon will definitely be one that I remember, especially in such a close match."
Federer won the first two sets of the match, before Anderson claimed sets three and four. The South African won the quarterfinal matchup by upending the eight-time tournament champ in a 90-minute fifth set. The final scoreline read in 2-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 in favor of the eighth-seeded Anderson.
Anderson had 28 aces in the victory, compared to Federer's 16 aces. Anderson hit 11 of those winners in the fifth set.
Federer -- the No. 1 player in the ATP world rankings -- was previously 4-0 against the South African. Anderson moves on to face Milos Raonic or American John Isner in the semifinals on Friday at the All England Club.
"I guess there was definitely a moment at some point (I lost control of the match)," Federer told reporters. "Is it missing match points? Is it getting broken? ... So that could have been a key. It could have been a key later. There are a lot of little points here and there that always make a difference in the outcome of a match."
No. 12 Novak Djokovic also advanced to the semifinals. The Serbian will face No. 2 Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin del Porto in the semifinals in London. Djokovic beat Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in his quarterfinal matchup.
Anderson has never won a Grand Slam and has reached a Grand Slam final just once. That appearance came at the 2017 U.S. Open, when he lost to Nadal.
"He had to play a great, great game to break me," Federer said of Anderson. "If that's what it takes, that's alright."
