Novak Djokovic battles to beat Kevin Anderson in two days

Novak Djokovic beat Kevin Anderson 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5

Novak Djokovic completed his rescue mission and marched into the quarter finals after winning the deciding set against the big hitting South African Kevin Anderson.

In the closing act of a drama interrupted by bad light on Monday night and then briefly by rain on Tuesday afternoon, the world No1 flicked the business-as-usual switch to take the fifth set 7-5. In the circumstances, the restoration of normality was a triumph. Djokovic looked anything like himself in the first two sets, letting tiebreak leads slip away and losing them to Anderson, the No14 seed and an opponent in the form of his life.

The Serb waited for the storm to pass and as Anderson – 6ft8 tall and bristling with menace – grew strength, Djokovic might have doubted that it would. After two hours, the intensity dropped – not by much – but enough for Djokovic to grind his way back, take two sets and draw level. Thus the stage was set for today’s resumed hostilities.

Anderson began as he started the previous day, a love game with three aces at over 130 miles per hour. Djokovic, his served slower but well placed, matched him. In the third game, after a series of fruitful lunges Djokovic returned and thought he had secured a break point, only to be frustrated by a Hawk-Eye ruling that saved Anderson from a double fault. With a swish of Anderson’s arm, the chance was gone.

The next game, which Djokovic started with a double fault, gave Anderson a chance, two break points. One he squandered with a wayward forehand, the second with a backhand that just missed the baseline. Djokovic held. This was sudden death tennis and the tension obviously reached the champion.

In the sixth game, which he nervously held, the mere appearance of a serve Anderson could not reach led Djokovic to punch the air in triumph. The gap between his serves lengthened, as he bounced the ball and strategised. Anderson, meanwhile, continued to serve with metronomic accuracy until the 11th game when calibration deserted him and he served two doubles faults giving Djokovic two break points. The champion hammered a return which died on Anderson’s racquet. Suddenly the Serb had the advantage.

After 50 minutes, Djokovic , leading 6-5 served for the match. Anderson, defiant, won the first two points but Djokovic, seeing the finish line, levelled. Anderson scuffed a forehand to give the champion match point. He raised his arms in relief as the next Anderson return flew long. It had been a slugfest from the outset.

Djokovic threatened Anderson’s serve with a break point in the first game but struggled to connect with it for the following two hours on Monday evening. It rained down from Anderson’s mid air firing range and arrived at around 130mph. Djokovic, perhaps the best returner of his generation, faced difficulty on the basis that you cannot routinely hit what you can’t see.

The South African served more than 30 aces in that first session; bundles into that the countless service winners. Even his second serve was more or less unplayable. But Anderson was more than a stony faced serving machine. When Djokovic did send the ball back, Anderson moved with fluidity, lowering his frame and swatted the ball with the grievance of a proud man slighted. Djokovic, dependent on his own speed and guile, kept pace with him by holding serves in the first set and come the tiebreak he sped to a 3-1 lead.

At that point – when normally he would have sprinted into the distance – he found himself rooted to the spot, mere target practice for Anderson’s slingshot serves. The South African took the tiebreak 8-6. In the second set Anderson, still bristling, got a break to go 3-1 up. Djokovic, surprising the crowd and himself, broke back and the two slugged it out to another tiebreak.

Again Djokovic grabbed the advantage to go 4-1 up. Again he was pulled back. After a deft, decisive backhand volley from Anderson at the net, the tiebreak was 8-6, the score 2-0. With the third set, the levelling out in Anderson’s performance that Djokovic had been waiting for.

It was not pronounced. He moved a little slower, notched fewer first serves. Djokovic meanwhile gained in authority and began sending the serve back with interest. He broke Anderson to go 3-0 up and 5-1 up and took the set 6-1 in 26 minutes.

By the fourth set, Djokovic was at cruising altitude. Anderson remained competitive but Djokovic assured the arrogance and verve of a champion. He took the fourth set 6-4, roared his trademark battle cry and disappeared into the fading evening light.

On Tuesday's conclusion, the two men left together; Djokovic to face Marin Cilic. Anderson to face the fact that he now holds a record for seven times reaching the round of 16 without reaching a quarter-final. He may never come closer.

(Guardian service)