London • Kevin Anderson won the longest Centre Court match in history and earned a chance to try to collect his first Grand Slam championship, edging John Isner 7–6 (6), 6–7 (5), 6–7 (9), 6–4, 26–24 at Wimbledon in a marathon between two big servers that lasted more than 6½ hours Friday.
The fifth set alone lasted nearly 3 hours as the semifinal became a test of endurance more than skill. Anderson finally earned the must-have, go-ahead service break with the help of a point in which the right-hander tumbled to his backside, scrambled back to his feet and hit a shot lefty.