Kevin Anderson ousts Pablo Andujar in opener – Rogers Cup 2011
South African Kevin Anderson effortlessly conceived a two set 6-4, 6-4 win over his Spanish opponent Pablo Andujar in their opening round match at the Rogers Cup. Andujar’s inchoate campaign was thus cut short right on its onset,
while the winner progressed on to the next round of the tournament. The premiere Montreal tournament offers a proven tune up ground before commencement of play at Flushing Meadows and attracts top seeds every year.
Ranked at a respectable No. 35, Anderson’s career is on a successful trajectory with every passing week augmenting to his reputation. The South African had an extraordinary start to the season by clinching his maiden ATP Tour Title
in Johannesburg, early January and he clocked in his career’s best No. 33 ranking a while later in April. Coming in with a 27-18 win loss record for the year, Anderson has recently played at Washington and Atlanta. He failed to move past the third round at
the Legg Mason but managed a quarterfinals performance against Gilles Muller in Atlanta. Anderson’s debuted at Montreal last year and managed to qualify and reach the third round before losing to Rafael Nadal in two closely contested sets.
Despite some excellent performances in the last few weeks, Spain’s Andujar failed to achieve anything at the Rogers Cup. With a 21-19 win loss standing to date this year, Andujar had finished runner up to Juan Carlos Ferrero at
the Mercedes Cup Stuttgart in early July. Just last week the 46th ranked Spaniard had reached the quarterfinals on the clay courts at Kitzbühel, Austria. His lack of practice on hard courts was sorely evident Monday.
The two players have met once previously. Anderson had won the match at the 2011 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami 6-2, 6-3. With Monday’s win Anderson now holds a convincing 2-0 lead in the players’ head to head rankings.
Andujar’s game was cut short by Anderson, who registered a cleverly crafted breakpoint in the set’s very first game and took off with a confident lead. Despite serving at 61%, considerably higher than Anderson’s 53%, Andujar couldn’t
overcome his opponent’s lead. Anderson closed the set 6-4 by winning a total of 37 points against Andujar’s 33.
The second set opened with a frenzied exchange of breakpoints in the first two games. Anderson first broke Andujar’s serve in the first game, limiting him to just 15 points. Andujar however matched with an equally decisive serve
break in the very next game. Anderson however served beautifully at 73% and fired a volley of 7 perfectly executed aces to render his opponent hapless. The South African closed the set again at 6-4 by registering a breakpoint soon after scores levelled at
2-2.
Anderson will now have a faceoff with fourth seed and defending champion Andy Murray in their second round match in Canada. Murray had received a first round bye and is a strong contender for the Rogers Cup title again this year.
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