Tsonga, Querrey Have Epic Wimbledon Clash Suspended

The last time Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sam Querrey battled at Wimbledon in 2014, they put on a marathon battle that lasted two days. Play was suspended at 9-9 in the fifth set before Tsonga came back to prevail 14-12.

Three years later, history will repeat itself. The 12^th seed Tsonga and 24^th seed Querrey will return to the court for a second day after their lengthy third-round match on Friday was suspended due to darkness. Tsonga will serve at 2-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 5-6 when play resumes on Saturday. 

Almost nothing separated the pair after two hours and 54 minutes of play. Tsonga hit 51 winners to 27 errors, while Querrey hit 52 winners to 27 errors. They’re also nearly identical on total points won, with Tsonga leading 149 to 141. The Frenchman leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 4-1 and has won their past three matches.

The winner will take on Kevin Anderson, who put on a ruthless serving display to reach the second week over Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-6(3). The South African hammered 27 aces and didn’t face a break point to prevail in exactly two hours. Anderson matches his best result at Wimbledon, a pair of fourth-round finishes in 2014 and 2015.

His run this year comes as a mild surprise, though. The 31 year old arrived with a 13-11 record in main draw matches this year, although he has shown improved form over the past two months. Anderson reached the semi-finals in Estoril and quarter-finals in Geneva, in addition to posting a fourth-round showing at Roland Garros.

Querrey leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Anderson 7-5, while Tsonga has won all three of his previous meetings against the South African.