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Curren amazed by Anderson's mental strength

Cape Town - South African-born Kevin Curren knows the challenges of Wimbledon better than most. 

In 1983, representing his home country, Curren lost in the tournament semi-finals while two years later, in 1985, he made it all the way through to the final where he lost to teenager Boris Becker. 

Curren had adopted the United States as his home country by then, so the lines of how South African that achievement was will always be blurred. 

Wayne Ferreira, meanwhile, reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 1994 but since then there has been little to celebrate from a South African perspective ... until now. 

On Friday, Kevin Anderson will take on the big-serving John Isner in the Wimbledon semi-finals after his phenomenal comeback against Roger Federer in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. 

It is a monumental opportunity for the 32-year-old, who could not argue that the win against Federer was one of the biggest of his career. 

Two sets to love and a match point down, Anderson found something from within to rally back and stun the greatest of all time. 

Curren was watching that match closely, and he says that it was Anderson's mental strength that stood out most for him. 

"I must be honest, after those first two sets I didn't think he had a chance of beating Federer," the 60-year-old Curren told Netwerk24

"I was very impressed that he could keep calm under all that pressure and push through. His concentration was incredible, especially with the majority of the spectators supporting Federer.

"I didn't think he could play at such a high level for so long."

Turning his attention to the semi-final, Curren encouraged Anderson to stay clam. 

"He must not look at this as being close to the title or the final," Curren said.

"He must view the semi-final as a normal match and treat it as if it was a first round match."

The match starts at 14:00. 

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