Amazing Anderson
S. African sees off top seed Thiem in Citi Open third round
WASHINGTON: Big-serving South African Kevin Anderson squandered two match points before finally overcoming Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem in a compelling three-set slugfest at the Citi Open in Washington.
The clock had almost struck midnight when the 15th seed finally closed out the third-round match with his 21st ace to seal a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (9-7) victory in a little under three hours.
In a high- quality contest, 45th-ranked Anderson seemed to have frittered away his chances when he wasted a first match point in the second set but regrouped mentally and even survived a match point against him in the deciding tiebreak.
Anderson’s power game is ideally suited to the super-slick centre court surface at Rock Creek Park that has officially been measured as faster than Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
Thiem staved off defeat the first time after an 11-stroke rally culminated with a whipped forehand winner into the corner that Anderson could only watch helplessly as it whistled past.
The Austrian then captured the next two points of the tiebreak to level the match at one set apiece and send the contest into an exciting decider.
“I felt I had it in the second set but I tried to stay as positive as possible,” 31-year-old Anderson told Tennis Channel.
“I was down two breaks in the third but kept fighting and managed to play some of my better tennis.”
In quieter surroundings on an outside court, Indian world No. 200 Yuki Bhambri continued his dream run.
After taking out defending champion Gael Monfils in the second round, Yuki produced a successful encore to beat Argentine Guido Pella 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1 and set up a quarter- final encounter with Anderson.
Alexander Zverev beat American Tennys Sandgren 7-5, 7-5 to meet Russian Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
Japanese second seed Kei Nishikori’s match ended 20 minutes later as he saw off Argentine Juan Martin Del Porto 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the quarters, where he will face American Tommy Paul.
In women’s action, top seed Simona Halep recovered from a poor start to beat Colombian Mariana Duque 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
However, second seed Kristina Mladenovic could not avoid an upset when the Frenchwoman was thrashed 6-2, 6-3 by Canadian 17-year-old Bianca Andreescu.
Andreescu made tennis history on Thursday, becoming the first WTA player born in the 21st Century to defeat a top-20 rival by downing France’s 13th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic.
Andreescu’s triumph to reach the quarter-finals was her second career tour triumph and second of the week after losing her first top-level match in the first round at Wimbledon last month. “I didn’t think I actually could win the match,” Andreescu said of dispatching Mladenovic.
“But I went out there with the right attitude and played my best tennis.
“My dream is to create history, which I did today. This is the beginning.”
“It’s amazing for me but it’s too bad for her,” Andreescu said.
“But that’s life.”