Pablo Carreno Busta threw his racket into the air in relief as well as celebration after seeing off his longtime nemesis Kevin Anderson, 6-4 5-7 7-6(6) to move into the semi-finals of the Miami Open today on Crandon Park Stadium court.
The 16th seeded Spaniard came into the match with a 0-4 head to head record against the tall South African, with the last defeat taking place just two weeks ago at Indian Wells 4-6 6-3 7-6(6). This time he would not be denied, fighting off a match point in the final set tiebreak having already squandered two in the second set an hour or so earlier.
Carreno Busta took the opening set in 43 minutes by breaking the 6th seeded Anderson in the seventh game to love with a running forehand pass up the line which the lunging South African was unable to control on the backhand volley, and then closing out the set 6-4 on serve with an ace up the centre.
Although Anderson went ahead 2-0 in the second set, courtesy of a double fault on break point by the Spaniard, he dropped his serve immediately when Carreno Busta set up two break points by ripping a forehand cross court pass and converting two points later when Anderson netted a backhand.
With the momentum firmly in his favour, the Spaniard broke again to go ahead 3-2; nailing a backhand up the line into the open court on break point.
It looked as if a comfortable straight sets victory for the Spaniard was going to be a formality as he served 6-4 5-4 40-15, but the stubborn South African was having none of it as he saved both match points in quick succession. A forehand cross court pass followed by a backhand return up the line that had Carreno Busta in all kinds of trouble as his forehand, hit off balance, sent the ball sailing over the baseline brought the score back to deuce. Anderson set up break point with a forehand cross court winner, and the Spaniard’s mishit forehand found the net to bring the score to 5-5.
With Anderson holding comfortably for 6-5, the tension in the serving arm of the nervous Spaniard was palpable as he served two double faults to lose the 53 minute set, 7-5.
Games went with serve in the final set, with the only break point coming at 4-4 on the Anderson serve, set up with an amazing sliced forehand cross court pass played at full stretch by Carreno Busta, followed by a backhand cross court pass. The South African extricated himself with a service winner on break point and held for 5-4 with an ace.
Going into the final set breaker, there was little to choose between the two, but it was Anderson who got the first mini break to go ahead 2-1, but with cries of “Vamos Pablo!” ringing in his ears, the Spaniard hit straight back, turning around a 3-5 deficit with a run of two points for 5-5. However, when his backhand went long to hand Anderson a match point, thoughts of Indian Wells must have come flooding back.
On match point, Anderson got the short return, but hit his forehand long to the delight of the Carreno Busta fans. The Spaniard set up his third match point with a backhand volley winner, and clinched the match when Anderson’s mishit backhand return found the first row.
“Last time I lost to him 7-6 in the final set and today I started playing really good, returning good and serving good, being very aggressive”, Carreno Busta said. “When I served for the match in the second set at 40-15, he played some very good points; passing shots and returning really good, hitting winners with his forehand, and after that it was a very tough moment for me to lose the second set. But I continued fighting on court and at the end of the match I saved a match point and finally I won. I’m very happy with the victory because it’s very important to me to get this victory against him and also to be in the semi-finals.”
The Spaniard owed the victory as much to his fighting spirit as to the support he received from his fans on the stadium court. “When I lost the second set, I was feeling a little bit tired at the beginning of the final set”, he said. “It was the crowd who started to shout “Vamos Pablo!” and at 3-3 I started to believe in myself again, in my game, and I think 50 percent of the victory is because of them.”
The stats show that there was very little to choose between them, with Carreno Busta winning one more point (106/211) than Anderson (105/211). His break point conversion rate was less impressive however, (3/10) 30% compared to Anderson (3/4) 75%. Anderson won hands down in the ace department with 14 unreturnables against just 6 from the Spaniard.
