(AP) – It was the kind of tennis that Wimbledon’s Centre Court crowd would gladly have watched all night long.
The show being put on by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was so good it could have been an instant classic had they been able to finish their semifinal before the tournament’s 11 p.m. curfew.
Instead, the two players — and a disappointed audience — were sent home after the third set on Friday with Djokovic leading 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9) following a tense tiebreaker that had more entertaining rallies than some entire matches.
The two players didn’t even get onto the court until after 8 p.m. because of an earlier marathon semifinal won by Kevin Anderson and when Djokovic converted his second set point in the tiebreaker — having saved three of Nadal’s — the clock had ticked a couple of minutes past 11. That left organizers no choice but to call it a night, although the announcement from the chair umpire led to a scattering of boos from some fans who clearly wanted more.
Most of them will have to watch the rest on TV.
The match will resume at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday, before the women’s final between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber. At stake is a place in Sunday’s men’s final against the man who was partly at fault for keeping Nadal and Djokovic out there so late. Anderson’s win over John Isner lasted 6 ½ hours and went to 26-24 in the fifth set.
Djokovic-Nadal had clearly been the headline act of the day — they have five Wimbledon titles between them and met in the 2011 final while Anderson and Isner had never made the semifinals before — and their tennis was at another level from the earlier match. Even Anderson said he could feel during his match that the crowd would rather be watching the next one.
“They’ve paid to see two matches, and they came pretty close to only seeing one match,” Anderson said. “I can feel the crowd (get) pretty antsy for us to get off the court. They’ve been watching us for over six hours.”
While Anderson-Isner was mostly a serving duel with a few longer rallies thrown in, Djokovic and Nadal repeatedly slugged it out from the baseline, chasing each other around the court and coming up with spectacular winners from every corner.
Many of the best points came in the tiebreaker, including a 23-shot rally that Nadal finished off with a forehand half-volley drop shot to set up his first set point.
It was one of three successful drop shots from the Spaniard in the tiebreaker alone, but Djokovic answered with one of his own to save the second set point at 7-6.
He eventually went up 10-9 with the help of a backhand passing shot and an errant shot into the net by Nadal brought the entertainment to an end — for now.
It led to the unusual situation of both players leaving the court to a huge ovation — and applauding the fans in return — but without there being a clear winner or loser.
Source: AP
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Rafa you can do it ,is not over yet .good luck vamossssssssssssssss remember you are the champ we are with you.all the way.👍👍👍🎾🎾🎾❤️❤️❤️👍
Rafa will win…he is the best!
I too am disappointed that the roof will probably be closed today. I am trying to remember how well Rafa had played and how much better he has done than many expected. His match with Delpo was so exciting, but Rafa started slow in the first set. He played so much better in the second and third sets, but the TB loss was heartbreaking. I am trying to be happy no matter what happens today.
Good luck Rafa, stay healthy, and if you win it will be great for you ❤️
its hot weather today they are going to play under a closed roof which is disgraceful. If Nadal wins the fourrh set i gave him the benefith of the doubt in the fifht because he can cope better with hot conditions but he has the play better serve better and better cover the court
Rafa can do this. He just lost the 3rd set on a very tight tie break. I have faith in him. Plus the overnight break will have allowed some coaching time although probably not much sleeping time. Cmon Rafa. Just hope they are sensible about this and keep the roof open on such a hot day
Rafa all the very best for the remainder of the match.
Love and prayers,
AlaineXXSydneyXXAustraliaXX
Interesting review of yesterday on The Tennis Podcast… something to listen to in the wait
VAMOS RAFA ! WE ALL WANT TO SEE YOU BEAT NOVAK AND YOU CAN DO IT BY PLAYING WITH FEWER ERRORS .I’M A BELIEVER SO INEXPECT THAT YOUNEILL BEAK NOVAK !
Rafa stay aggressive I know you can do good luck
It’s gonna be roasting today. What’s the point of calling Wimbledon an outdoor tournament if the roof will be closed today? It makes zero sense and is totally unfair.The only person who is in favour of this is Novak for obvious reasons. I sincerely hope the officials will yield to common sense and open the roof, so that all concerned can enjoy the match in the glorious sunshine. Is threre any way that anyone can let these pompous officials see sense?
I hope they won’t do anything stupid like that. There’s no reason to keep the roof closed.
The apparent reason is a rule that a match must continue under the same conditions it started. Both players must agree otherwise.
Very positive for today! Rafa will prevail. Vamos💪💪💪💪
Ah OK. Most important match of the season and this website starts to just copy content. Strange, you can also just quit?
Rafa se k lo conseguiras….se fuerte mentalmente k es la guerra k quiere ganarte Djokovik…y tu primer servicio importantisimo…estas a un nivel muy muy grande….lo conseguiràs….SIEMPRE CONTIGO VAMOSSSSSSSSS RAFA…
Happy birthday Stefano.
Today is a brand new day and Rafa will come out with bad intentions for Djokovic.
Coming from a set behind to beat Djokovic will be a great task for Rafa, but it is certainly possible and our champ will give it his absolute best try. Who would have thought Kevin Anderson would come from two sets down to beat Federer, then win his next match in 6 hours:)
Positive vibes for your match today Rafa!!
Plus, we must consider that Rafa *hates* to play at night and with the roof closed at Wimby. Today hopefully it will be hot and sunny.
Not an easy task, but if there’s one that could accomplish it, it’s our champ Rafa!
(Thanks for the HB! 🙂 Let’s hope to celebrate it with a win!)
Wimbledon has to make some change. The “big servers” are killing this game. The six hour marathon was so boring that I was exasperated. Nadal and Djokovic put in more tennis in their first 10 minutes than the other two in six hours.
Nadal was better in the third set… the tie-breaker almost dropped me unconscious. But today is my birthday (and yesterday was friday the 13th lol), so I hope for a gift by Rafa.
Vamos!!!
Awestruck with the highest quality tennis from both mega stars & champions !!
Rafa vamosssssssss
Vamos Rafa
The tie-break killed me. Rafa was the better player after the first set. He didn‘t deserve to lose this set:( Take rest and go for it tomorrow. YOU CAN STILL DO IT. Vamos Rafa <3
Amazing tennis, the crowd who were in Centre Court for many hours appreciated the quality of the game. The current system of no tiebreak in the fifth set is archaic and players need to effect change. Anderson and Isner must have been exhausted and the crowd , at times. less than respectful.
Let us keep faith in Rafa, he should have closed out the third set but that is sport, The BBC commentators were painful, Boris Becker talking non stop about Djokovic and himself and bland Tim Henman making usual statements, then we had the cameras constantly focusing on the Djokovic box and his anxious wife! Interestingly, smarmy Sue Barker never refers to Rafa as the World Number 1and says, ” Rafael Nadal is playing Djokovic, Vesley etc” never mentioning that they play Rafa,
Come on Rafa, you can do it to day, hit the court with confidence and belief
Fully agreed! Sue Barker makes me throw up at times.
I use the option (Sky Sports Italy) to watch the game without any comments. But I noticed tha they were always on Djokovic’s wife.
I don’t know who was controlling the cameras but they were the same for everyone. There were too many shots of the players boxes. Rafa’s GF is beautiful but I am sure she did not like all of the camera shots. Novak’s wife is unpleasant in every way.
Agree. Between points I want to see the players, not Moonface Whatsisname in Djokovic’s box or his wife or Rafa’s father or nobody.