Anderson at his ‘best’ in sweeping past Nishikori
Kei Nishikori narrowly avoided only the second 6-0, 6-0 defeat in ATP Finals history against Kevin Anderson.
The world No 9 had beaten Roger Federer in the opening round-robin match on Sunday but was a shadow of that player against Anderson yesterday.
Wimbledon runner-up Anderson raced into a 6-0, 5-0 lead to leave Nishikori staring at a dreaded ‘double-bagel’ before the man from Japan finally managed to string a service game together.
It only delayed the inevitable, though, as Anderson duly served out to complete a punishing 6-0, 6-1 victory in an hour and three minutes.
Federer therefore remains the only player to dish out a 6-0, 6-0 defeat at the Finals, against Gaston Gaudio in the last four in 2005.
Anderson, who also won his opening match at London’s O2 Arena against Dominic Thiem in straight sets, said: “It’s one of the best matches I’ve ever played.
“Kei is a world-class player but I just had to take every game at a time. You wait a whole year to play a match like that and it feels fantastic.”
Federer v Thiem, the other game in the Group Guga Kuerten, was last night’s late match.
The final matches in the group take place tomorrow with Anderson going up against Federer, who he beat at Wimbledon in July in the quarter-finals, while Thiem goes up against Nishikori.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic will look to maintain his charge towards winning a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals when he takes on Alexander Zverev in Group Lleyton Hewitt today, with the action due to start at 6pm UAE time.
A victory would all but guarantee the world No 1 a spot in the semi-finals.
He had begun his challenge on Monday in emphatic fashion with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 victory against tournament debutant John Isner.
A break of serve in each set from the Serbian proved enough for him to triumph as he made a victorious return to the competition, having missed the 2017 event due to an elbow injury.
“The match was great,” Djokovic said of his success. “I managed to get three breaks of John’s serve which is sometimes mission impossible, but I managed to be at the right place at the right time, and I held my serve very well and played solid.
“I missed this tournament last year because of injury.
“I kind of enjoyed the time off but I missed this arena and I’m glad to be back.”
Zverev was victorious against Marin Cilic in his opening match.
Cilic will bid to keep his hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive when he faces Isner, their match starting at midnight.