Kevin Anderson outlasts Donald Young in second round of Delray Beach Championships
Fifth seed South African, Kevin Anderson outplayed Donald Young of the United States in the first round of the Delray Beach International Championships on Tuesday night in a thrilling encounter.
Anderson overcame his opponent by 6-7(5), 7-6(4) and 6-2 in a two hours and thirty minutes marathon thriller.
It was an evenly balanced contest and both men threw their best at each other. Anderson proved to be more resilient than his competitor and put up a good show of tennis.
Anderson’s strong serve was the key to his success in the match. The 6ft 8in tall African smoked 22 thudding aces in the contest, with a phenomenal first serve percentage of 73.
Anderson won 23 of his 27 first serve points and saved two break chances in the first set. None of the players could break the opponent’s serve and a decisive tie breaker had to be enforced. The “lucky loser” Young was the better man under pressure as he
restricted the African to 5 points in the tie breaker to wrap up the opening set 7-6(5).
The South African had another stiff fight with his opponent in the second set. Once again both men were unable to break each other’s serve. However, Anderson had five chances to convert a break point but he squandered all of them. He belted 10 aces in the
set, with an excellent first serve percentage of 82.
The second set tie breaker proved fruitful for Anderson as he easily outplayed Young to grab the second set at 7-6(4).
The fifth seed carried on his winning momentum in the decider and got an early lead with a serve break. The American appeared to be exhausted in the last set, signaled by his sloppy footwork. Young failed to register a single break point in the whole match.
Anderson sealed his victory with another serve break, winning the third set by 6-2.
The African will be facing Florent Serra in the next round. The Frenchman won his first round match against Ryan Harrison by 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Also in the opening round: Ryan Sweeting of the United States ousted the Russian, Igor Andreev, in a convincing 6-2, 6-3 straight sets victory
Sweeting had a good aggressive approach towards the game with his powerful ground strokes. First serve percentage for the match remained around 70 for Sweeting and he converted most of his serve breaking chances. He converted two break points in the opening
set, while he had to face none from his opponent. Sweeting merely lost two games before he clinched the first set at 6-2.
The Russian lifted his spirits in the second set and cracked an early break point. However, his bleak serve gave two break point chances to Sweeting, who capitalised on them to take the decisive set 6-3.
Sweeting will face fellow country man, third seed Sam Querrey, for a slot in the quarter -finals. Querrey won his first round match against Dustin Brown of Germany, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
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