Firing Anderson stays in the hunt
KEVIN Anderson overpowered Polish qualifier Michal Przysiezny, cruising into the third round of Wimbledon in London yesterday.
Anderson, the only South African left in the main singles draw, secured a straight sets 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 victory in the secondround match.
The SA men’s number one will face world number six Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the next round.
Also yesterday, Li Na, the Chinese sixth seed, overcame the in-form Simona Halep in a roller-coaster Wimbledon second round match.
Halep, the world number 32, was the toughest possible second round opponent for a seed, but Li survived a second-set scare to triumph 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.
Halep went into the match on the back of an 11-match unbeaten streak, winning Nuremburg on clay and s’Hertogenbosch on grass the following week to claim her first tour titles.
And Halep had already beaten Li in the US Open first round in straight sets in 2011 when the Chinese was the reigning French Open champion.
It was their only previous encounter and was the first of two times that Halep had beaten a top-10 player.
But Li’s experience finally told, and the 31-year-old next plays either Czech 32nd seed Klara Zakopalova or Germ Annika Beck in the third round.
In theory, the potential path to the title is much more open for Li now that three of the five higher-ranking seeds – Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Sara Errani – are out.
Li’s Wimbledon best was reaching the 2006 and 2010 quarterfinals, though she tumbled in the second round on her last two All England Club outings. — Sapa-AFP