Kevin Anderson battles past Albert Montanes into quarterfinal – China Open 2011
South African tennis pro Kevin Anderson continued his impressive run on the hard courts of China as he battled past Albert Montanes of Spain 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) in a thrilling three setter on Thursday to book his place in the quarterfinal
of 2011 China Open here at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China.
Unseeded at the Association of Tennis Professionals tournament, Anderson has been in terrific form for the last week or so. In his opening round, he stunned the number six seed Andy Roddick 6-4, 7-5 to impress the critics. Having
taken a lot of confidence from that victory, Anderson continued to play aggressively against the Spaniard as well and after playing two very tight sets, he emerged victorious in a match that lasted for 2 hours and 9 minutes.
Ranked 31st in the world, Anderson is one of the most improved players on the tour. Having won his first ATP on the tour this season, he is getting better with every passing round. He certainly has the temperament and
game play to make it all the way to the finals. However, he must keep his head down to bring more improvement in the weaker areas of his game play.
World number 55, Albert Montanes put up a brave fight. He took the challenger to his limits but he still fell short. He will be, of course, disappointed with the result of the match. However, he should try and learn from his mistakes
and he is expected to come back stronger on his next appearance on the tour. It will not be wrong to say that his serves let him down big time as he produced a whopping ten double faults in the match. Hitting only 52 per cent of his first serves, he allowed
his rival to dictate terms.
Anderson had a decent start to the match as he broke the serve early in the opening set to gain that psychological advantage. Montanes showed great character and fighting spirit to break back and force the set into a tie- breaker.
Hitting serves aces at crucial stages during the contest, Anderson clinched the tie-breaker 7-3 to take 1-0 set score lead.
The second set followed a very similar pattern as both players broke each other twice. Montanes did a pretty good job at the receiving end but he was put under immense pressure on his serves. Anderson blasted a big forehand winner
down the line to set up two match points and then converted the first one to close out the match in straight sets.
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