Anderson bounces back in Melbourne
KEVIN ANDERSON overcame sweltering conditions and France’s Adrian Mannarino in four sets to march into the second round of the Australian Open yesterday.
South Africa’s top singles player breathed a sigh of relief beating Mannarino 6-3 5-7 6-2 6-1 to avoid a repeat of last year’s first-round defeat.
Last year he was bundled out in a five-set match against Kyle Edmund, who went on to play in the semi-final.
Anderson took a set and a break lead before Mannarino broke the South Africa’s serve twice to level the match on a set apiece.
But Anderson fought back strongly despite batting against the heat serving 14 aces in the match to set up a second-round clash against American Frances Tiafoe on Wednesday.
“It was really hot out here. I thought we were going to hit the heat rule, but no luck,” said Anderson.
“I was up a break in that second set and just let it get away a little bit,” he added. “I was happy with the way I was able to reset.”
The world number six has not made it past the first round of the first Grand Slam of the year since 2015.
He has reached the fourth round of the Australian Open on three occasions – 2013, 2014 and 2015 – and is yet to make it into the playoffs.
Anderson carried his stunning form from last year into the 2019 season by winning the Tata Open Maharashtra trophy in Pune, India earlier this month.
The 2018 Wimbledon finalist won his sixth tour-level title beating Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 7-6(4) 6-7(2) 7-6(5) in the tallest ATP Tour final in the Open Era.
The victory gave him his sixth ATP World Tour title winning two in 2018 while he also reached the Wimbledon final and the ATP Finals.
“Every day I push myself to get better and better,” Anderson said.
“You’ve got to come out here and win the match. It is a difficult challenge but that is what it is all about.”
Anderson will be looking to become the first South African Grand Slam winner since Johan Kriek won the 1981 and 1982 Australian Open titles.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s top doubles player Raven Klaasen and Kiwis partner Michael Venus will start their Australian Open campaign against Mikhail Kukushkin and Bradley Klahn on Wednesday.
Klaasen and Venus, who also suffered a first-round defeat at the 2018 Australian Open, have hit a rich vein of form beating iconic American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan in the semi-final of the Auckland Open.
They went down to Ben McLachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-4 in the final but would still have taken some confidence from their performances in that tournament.