Wimbledon’s Tennis Men’s Round

The ladies field at Wimbledon had already been torn apart by upsets. Not a one of the top seeds was left. And now Roger Federer has exited, and in strange fashion.

The eight-time champion was a point away from closing out Kevin Anderson on Wednesday. Heck, he had won the first set in 23 minutes. And he was 4-0 against Anderson in their careers without losing a set to him, with Anderson having never won a Grand Slam event (though he was runner-up at the last U.S. Open).

Anderson had plenty going for him. The 6-foot-8 South African unleashed lightning serves to record 24 aces and saved nine of 12 break points. He won the third set, and then the next two and Federer, 36, was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

And so the top seed lost 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 to the No. 8 seed.

“I just kept on telling myself, ‘I have to keep believing.’ I kept saying that today was going to be my day, because you really need that mindset taking the court against somebody like Roger,” Anderson, 32, said. “If you go out there with doubts or unsure what’s going to happen, like I maybe did a little bit in that first set, it’s not going to go your way.”

Anderson now plays No. 9 John Isner on Friday in the men’s semifinals. Federer? Well, he’s seen too much to be devastated by this, but he’s also 36 and was on the court for 4 hours, 14 minutes.

“It was just one of those days where you hope to get by somehow,” Federer said. “I almost could have. I should have.”

One of those days. We all have them. We didn’t know that Roger Federer did.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman