By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Just when you think you have seen one of the best matches you have ever seen, here comes another one.
In a Wimbledon classic, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro slugged their way through the longest semifinal match in Wimbledon history Friday, battling for four hours, 43 minutes and five sets before the top-seeded Djokovic prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Djokovic called the match “one of the best matches I have ever been a part of” elaborating “It was probably the most exciting (match) here at Wimbledon. It was such a high level from the first to the last point.”
On ESPN, Brad Gilbert called the epic, “Without a doubt, the most physical match I have ever seen on grass,” noting that 64 times during the match, a rally last nine shots or more. Many of the rallies featured blistering forehands from Del Potro – some clocked at over 100 miles per hour – and furious counter-punching from Djokovic, with many heart-stopping exchanges, some of which had Del Potro scrambling into the first row of seats on Centre Court.
Djokovic had a chance to close out the match, holding two match points at 6-4 in the fourth-set tiebreaker, but Del Potro used amazing will and a gutsy go-for-broke to win the four points in a row to force a fifth set.
When it comes to analyzing the greatest tennis matches of all time, Steve Flink is perhaps the world authority, having written a book THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME ($28.95, New Chapter Press, available here: http://www.newchaptermedia.com/the-greatest-tennis-matches-of-all-time/) and rates the match as one of the best semifinals in the event’s history.
“For drama and physicality, this semifinal ranks up there as a semifinal Wimbledon classic, but not up there as one of the absolute epics,” Flink wrote in an email. “I don’t feel it was of the same high quality as Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal match at Roland Garros this year. I say that because Djokovic never played his best tennis. He served terrifically for most of the match and tried his hardest but he also was fighting himself.”
“At one set all, he had 6-5, 0-40 triple set point and let Del Potro escape before taking the tie-break,” Flink continued. “In the fourth set he broke for 4-3 and then played a bad game on his serve to let Del Potro back in again. The tie-break was exhilarating but Djokovic had two match points and should have closed it there. And the fifth was marred somewhat by Del Potro’s weariness.”
Flink, who rates the Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal 2008 Wimbledon final as the greatest tennis match of all time in his book, lists the 1927 Wimbledon semifinal – Henri Cochet defeating Bill Tilden 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 – as the No. 10 match of all time and the highest-ranked semifinal in his book. Flink emailed that the 1977 Wimbledon semifinal – Bjorn Borg defeating Vitas Gerulaitis 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 – would also rate higher than Del Potro against Djokovic.
“I thought it was an excellent match in many ways and Del Potro played some of his best tennis since winning the US. Open,” wrote Flink, “but Djokovic did not look like the best player in the world to me.”
The previous longest Wimbledon semifinal took place in 1989 when Boris Becker defeated Ivan Lendl 7-5, 6-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in four hours and one minute.
Djokovic will meet Andy Murray in Sunday’s final. Murray defeated Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
