Kevin Anderson has been in and around the world’s top 25 for a number of years now, beating the players he has to beat but coming up short against those above him. Tonight though he finally conquered that next hurdle by qualifying for his first ever grand slam quarter finals after an exceptional display to knock out number three seed Andy Murray 7-6, 6-3, 6-7 7-6.
The tranquil giant displayed not only a big serve and good net play, as you would expect from a player of his stature, but also a bullet-like return, quick movement (especially to pick up drop shots) and solid groundstrokes, particularly off the backhand. The first set headed into a tie break, where at 4-3 one of the best rallies of the match took place. 29 breath-taking shots, from backhand to backhand which eventually went Anderson’s way after clubbing through Murray. The following point saw another extremely deep return from Anderson and the South African was knocking on the door of the first set, which he promptly closed 7-5 with a gargantuan forehand.
Murray continued to struggle to keep up with Anderson in the second set and lost his serve after another incredible point where a drop shot from the Scot was retrieved by the South African who lobbed his opponent with a deft touch and, desperately running back, Murray pulled his forehand wide, thus conceding his serve and making it 2-0.
Anderson continued to play Murray off the court and it was one way traffic as he stepped up to serve for the second set at 5-1. However, the nerves of the occasion got to Anderson who, perhaps still has that five set defeat to Djokovic at Wimbledon on his mind, and he lost his serve. In the end an ace a couple of later sealed the set 6-3 for the world number 14, who blew a huge sigh of relief.
The opening game of the third set brought more Anderson mastery and a stunning crosscourt backhand return put the South African a break up and seemingly well on his way to the quarter finals. But a drop in the standard of his serving opened the door to Murray, who already fought back from two sets to love down in the second round against Mannarino, and after exchanging a couple of breaks they headed into another tie break. This time it was an ace from Murray which settled it and the fired up Scot celebrated vociferously as he pointed towards the crowd.
The tide looked to be turning in the final set, which also had to be decided by a tie break and it was here that Anderson really turned it on, sealing the breaker 7-0 and making his way into the quarter finals of the US Open. Despite the magnitude of his feat, Anderson showed what a gentleman he was again with his low key celebration, ensuring the first thing he did was to shake the hand of his defeated opponent. On the night the better man won; a reward to a hard-working professional who goes about the game in the right manner.
The good news for Anderson is that in the next round he plays the only top ten player he’s had substantial success against: Stan Wawrinka, who he has beaten in his last four meetings.
