Kevin Anderson blows Tommy Haas to reach quarter-finals – If Stockholm Open 2011
World number 31, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, continued with his brilliant form to outplay the German wildcard entrant, Tommy Haas, in the second round of the If Stockholm Open on Wednesday.
The fifth seeded South African went through some rough time earlier on but recovered very well to register victory in three sets, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4. Anderson laboured for two hours before he finally booked a berth in the quarter-final
round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The contest was played on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm, Sweden, with Anderson registering his 37th World Tour-level victory of the current season. Haas was off to a brilliant start in the opening set but lost
his way through the following two sets of the game to let his opponent back in business. Anderson reeled off the last two sets of the match to turn the tables on the German opponent and forced his way to the final eight of the tournament in style.
Plenty of fiery aces were witnessed in the matchup, with Anderson cracking in 20 and Hass registering 14 thudding ones. The South African took the better of his opponent by bagging crucial points throughout the contest, as he secured
59 out of 73 first serve points, while Haas lagged far behind with just 40 out of 56 points to lose the match.
Haas utterly failed to craft a single break opportunity in the entire matchup, while Anderson stung one serve break in each of the last two sets to come out as the winner. The two men played aggressive tennis in the opening set
and none of them could break his opponent’s serve. A tie breaker was enforced at 6-6 and Anderson crumbled under pressure to let the German away with the first set at 7-6(3).
A regular game was seen in the opening eight games of the following set as well but Anderson finally nailed the first break point of the day in the ninth game to seal the set in his name at 6-4. The final set was a complete replication
of the second one, with Anderson breaking in the ninth game again and then holding serve to conclude victory at 6-4.
Anderson will face the winner of the second round clash between the top seed Frenchman, Gael Monfils, and the Australian wildcard, Bernard Tomic, in the quarter-final round of the tournament. Monfils will play his first match of
the If Stockholm Open against Tomic on Thursday evening to make it to the quarter-finals.
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