LONDON — Top seed and reigning champion Novak Djokovic pulled off the great escape at Wimbledon in beating South African Kevin Anderson 6-7(6), 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 Tuesday to reach the quarterfinal. In a match spanning two days, with the world No. 1 losing the first two sets to the 14th-seeded giant before clawing back to level in fading light Monday, Djokovic walked away a mightily relieved man. “I was two sets down, to come back and win in five gives me great satisfaction and confidence for the next challenge,” he said after the normal order was restored. “I think he served exceptionally well. This was one of the most difficult matches I have played at Wimbledon and maybe in my career.” The players had walked out to cheers from the crowd but the entry proved premature, with umbrellas going up and the rain covers hurriedly pulled across Court One as the pair returned to the locker room. When the match eventually re-started, 16 hours and 33 minutes after the last point had been played, Djokovic was immediately back in the line of fire. Anderson blasted down two aces, followed by a backhand volley and then another bullet that fizzed past Djokovic, to hold serve without giving the Serb any hope of replying. Djokovic had to save two break points in the fourth game, holding serve for 2-2, with Anderson keeping up the pressure by rattling through the next game without dropping a point. The next games went with serve to 5-4, with Djokovic needing all his focus as he served to stay in the match. Job done, he then broke Anderson to go 6-5 up and served for the match at 40-30 with the South African's final return hit long. The Serb, who has now reached 25 Grand Slam quarterfinals in a row, goes on to face Croatia's US Open champion Marin Cilic for a place in the semifinals. Davis Cup squads Andy Murray will lead Great Britain's bid to reach the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1981 when it faces France in the last-eight at Queen's Club next week. World No. 3 Murray was named Tuesday in the squad for the tie against last year's runner-up. It's the same squad which defeated the United States in the first round of the World Group. Murray is joined by James Ward with Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot likely to play doubles. France captain Arnaud Clement has opted for grass court form in his quartet. Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet are joined by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut. Australia faces Kazakhstan in Darwin. New coach Wally Masur announced Monday that Nick Kyrgios, Sam Groth, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Lleyton Hewitt will form the side looking to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2006. Kazakhstan kept the same squad which defeated Italy in the opening round for the quarterfinal trip to Australia. Mikhail Kukushkin, Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Andrey Golubev and Dmitry Popko are the men in the squad. Argentina announced its team to play Serbia in Buenos Aires Friday. In the absence of injured Juan Martin del Potro and Juan Monaco, the No. 1 player will be Leonardo Mayer with Diego Sebastian Schwartzman, Federico Delbonis and Carlos Berlocq making up the remaining roster spots. Belgium faces Canada in Ostend with world No. 15 David Goffin, Steve Darcis, Ruben Bemelmans and Kimmer Coppejans. Canada is expected to confirm its squad later Tuesday. In Europe/Africa Zone Group I, new Spain captain Conchita Martinez has named her first side since taking over Monday. David Ferrer, Pablo Andujar, Marc Lopez and David Marrero are in the squad for the long trip to Vladivostok to play Russia. But Rafael Nadal was not included. — Agencies
