Kevin Anderson knocked-out by Michael Russell in the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
89th ranked qualifier, American Michael Russell bounced back to win against the 40th ranked South African, Kevin Anderson, in a three-set thriller at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, on Thursday night.
The 24-year-old Kevin Anderson had won 7 of his last 8 matches on hard courts. He was in great confidence in the opening set as he fired 9 powerful aces and had a slightly higher first serve percentage of 67 percent as compared
to Russell’s 65 percent.
He also registered an exceptional 79 percent win on his serves and saved all the three break points. However, the player couldn’t manage to break the American’s serve. The 32-year-old Russell saved four break points in the second
game alone, and with his convincing performance in the rest of the games; he dragged the set to a tiebreaker. However, his efforts drained as he lost the first set 6-7 (4) to Anderson.
The frustrated Russell, who recently reached the quarter-finals at Memphis and semi-finals at Honolulu, put his head back in the game. He broke the youngster’s serve in the second game to take the lead. He then held the rest of
his serves and clinched the equalizer convincingly with a 6-3 score-line.
Besides the break of serve, Russell also displayed his appalling skills to earn a much better first serve percentage of 85 percent as opposed to Anderson’s 59 percent. He also registered an impressive 77 percent win on it.
The American carried his winning ways to the final set as he broke Anderson’s serve in the very first game. Both players then displayed their tremendous skills to hold the rest of their serves but the initial break led Russell
to win the set 6-4 plausibly.
The American had a much higher first serve percentage of 82 percent as compared to the Anderson's 50 percent. He also earned an amazing 78 percent win on it. Anderson on the other hand, hammered two aces and saved two breaks but
this wasn’t enough to dump the American out of the tournament.
Russell will next face 11th seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. The American needs to practice hard to overcome the in-form Spaniard, after taking down an unseeded player in three tough sets.
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