Novak Djokovic and Kevin Anderson will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers when they battle for the Wimbledon title on Sunday afternoon.
Djokovic is leading the head-to-head series 5-1, including 1-0 at the All-England Club. That’s where they last met, with a 2015 fourth-round showdown going the way of the Serb–who battled back from a two-set deficit to prevail 6-7(6), 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 on his eventual way to the title. He has won five in a row at Anderson’s expense since losing a three-setter 10 years ago at the Miami Masters.
Win or lose, this fortnight has put an exclamation point on Djokovic’s resurgence following a period of inactivity and an injury-plagued slump. The world No. 21 set the table for it by showing tons of improvement during the clay-court swing, with a semifinal showing in Rome and a quarterfinal performance at the French Open. He finished runner-up to Marin Cilic at Queen’s Club before maintaining his fine grass-court form through five mostly routine Wimbledon matches against Tennys Sandgren, Horacio Zeballos, Kyle Edmund, Karen Khachanov, and Kei Nishikori. Djokovic then took his comeback to new heights by outlasting Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), 3-6, 10-8 in a semifinal thriller played on both Friday and Saturday.
The 12-time major champion may not have a full tank of gas for the final, but it’s safe to say that Anderson is also running low on energy. Not only did he famously survive John Isner 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-7(9), 6-4, 26-24 in the second-longest match in tournament history on Friday, but he also preceded that result by stunning Roger Federer 2-6, 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 in the quarterfinals. Anderson has also advanced in SW19 with more straightforward defeats of Norbert Gombos, Andreas Seppi, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Gael Monfils.
This is a nightmare matchup for Anderson, because Djokovic arguably wields the best service return in the game. Nadal probably would have been the 6’8” South African’s preferred opponent, because even though the Spaniard’s baseline game is every bit as good as Djokovic’s, his return of serve is not in the same ballpark. Thus Anderson would have had an easier time inducing short returns out of Nadal and dictating play on a more consistent basis.
And when Nadal is a more favorable matchup, that’s not a good thing for Anderson. After all, he got trounced by the world No. 1 in his only previous Grand Slam final at last summer’s U.S. Open. Another rough day for Anderson could be in the cards against a former world No. 1 who has won this event three times.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
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WYG?
Djokovic in 3. Similar scoreline as the uso 17 final
Clearly a great opportunity Novak, he doesn’t play many finals against guys who haven’t won slams. In fact, of his 21 GS finals so far, he’s only played one (!) against a non-GS winner (Tsonga). Fed and Rafa have each had a bunch of them.
You’d think the only things that could get to him would be nerves and fitness. But those could easily be big problems for Anderson too. Both guys looked pretty good at the conclusion of their semi-finals, but you have to wonder about whether the carry-over effects will impact on the quality of this match.
For a big guy, Anderson must surely be feeling it after his Isner marathon, but either way I’m very impressed with his fitness lately. Also, despite not having nerves of steel by any means (see e.g. the FH capitulation against Diego at RG) his resolve has been really good against Isner and Fed. Guess that US Open beating by Rafa has spurred him on.
For Djokovic, he has to be feeling it too after consecutive days play of like 2.5hrs against Nadal. Some reasonably long and grinding rallies, that’s gotta be somewhat draining. Still, he’s had a bit of time to work up his fitness, and he’s not that far off his best now. Mentally, things might be a bit harder than they usually are since he hasn’t played a final for a little while now. However on the big points against Nadal he looked reasonably good, definitely better than at RG.
Given all that, I’ll back Djokovic in 4. I think Anderson will fight tooth and nail, but physically Novak stands a good chance of breaking him down with the returns.
test
Something is not working here. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to post my prediction on this match for hours. Anderson in 4.
+1
Agree, upset is on the cards. It takes courage to make these types of calls.
Anderson has gone 5 sets against Djokovic at Wimbledon and lead by 2 sets when Djokovic was arguably in better form and Anderson is a better player now.
Anderson will have accumulated fatigue from 2 long matches but will at least get a days rest.
Total distance covered –
Anderson in QF + SF: 7628.5 m
Djokovic in just the SF alone: 6051.7 m
In consideration of the above, I’m removing fitness out of the equation.
Federer and Isner were strong formlines
Anderson should have his serve dialled in after the Isner match.
Anderson should be able to win at least a set.
+3.5 sets is the play and upset could be on the cards (Anderson in 5) but the most likely result is Djokovic in 4 for reasons outlined in the preview.
Anderson now has experience in finals. Anderson will feel he has nothing to lose after the Isner match and don’t think he’ll experience much nerves.
Bookies opened betting at 1.20 for Djokovic knowing the market would gladly gobble up the 20% when really the probability should be priced at 1.40-1.50.
Completely agree. Huge value on Anderson in a close to 50/50 match.
This match can be won by Kevin Anderson. He is very hungry and has always given Novak a tough time. …. http://www.138mph.com/wimbledon-mens-final-2018-novak-djokovic-versus-kevin-anderson-preview-and-prediction/
This will be only Djokovic’s 2nd ever grand slam final against somebody not named either Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal, Riger federer or Stan wawrinka…
The previous predictions were wrong …I hope this one is wrong
too……
Both players deserve this trophy but I hope Novak wins it, he was amazing against Rafa and if he loses this trophy too bad.
That’s right, he’s served his purpose already. He spoiled the party for “Mr. I want everything for me”
😂
Djokovic in three
Wow! It is going to be interesting going forward how this Djokovic is going to match up against Fed 3.0. He is back to returning everything and also is serving lights out.
Fed and Rafa both must be feeling uneasy thinking about the imminent return of a top-notch Nole
If you’re referring to this final match, then no, it’s more to do with Anderson’s poor serving than Djoko’s returns. Anderson has trainer to treat his arm, not a good sign.
Exactly lucky. Djokovic is not showing anything special. Kevin is playing quite disastrously. It’s a walk in the park until now. Let’s see if Anderson can get into this match.
This final may turn out to be another damp squib like last year’s, judging by how things go so far; I wonder how much a final ticket cost, is it worth the money?
Isner ruined Nadal’s chances.
Isner ruined Anderson’s chances.
Isner ruined the Wimbledon final.
Isner is a pox on tennis.
If Isner can ruin chances of so many players, I believe he is the new GOD of Tennis, that he can ruin chances of players whom he did not even play against.
he played against Anderson…
I think he means Isner ruined Nadals chances by making him and Andersons match so long, that Nadal and Djokovic had to play under the roof. Which imo. is a silly excuse, as Djokovic was the better man all tournament and also in the match. The conditions were the same for both, and Nadal played one of his best grass matches against Djokovic and Djokovic were still the better man.
There’s certainly some truth in that
Anderson is tired, no doubt. But Djokovic is making sure he feels the tiredness too with the relentless pressure on the return.
The guy is a marvel to watch except when he plays Rafa 😀
This win is going to give a new boost to Djoker. Lets be fair to Roger and Rafa. If Djoker is 90% firing they wont be winning 6 slams like they did in a year and half. Especially Fed cant win 2 AO out of the blue.
Huh? Why when he plays against Rafa, he’s not a marvel to watch?
I meant when he plays Rafa, it is hard to appreciate when Rafa is at the receiving end
For a guy who was so exasperated after the French saying he would not play on grass, this is a tremendous result- final at queens with MP and probably wimbledon champion.
And the scary part is his beloved hard court season is about to start and he has zero points to defend :O
🤗
Only have scores but have to remember it’s not time to celebrate until it’s over!
The first two sets are not a guarantee. But I’m pretty happy about it!
Idemo Nole!
Happy to see Nole has found his game again rc.
He deserves this as much as anybody no doubt.
Yes he is.
I like it when he plays Rafa.
Djokovic may win the final without facing a BP just like Rafa did at the open