Kevin Anderson outlasts Michael Russell in the second round – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
South Africa’s top player Kevin Anderson, ranked 34th in the world, prevailed over world number 102 Michael Russell of USA in straight sets 6-1, 7-5 in the second round of Atlanta Tennis Championships at Racquet Club
of the South in Atlanta on Wednesday. The South African took just an hour and 24 minutes to undo his opponent.
Anderson was almost flawless in the first set, losing just a single game. The South African and Russell held their serve in the first two games to level the score at 1-1. After that, Anderson captured five straight games, breaking
the American in the fourth and sixth game and holding all his service games to win the set 6-1.
The South African fired 72 percent of the first serves and four aces in the first set. Anderson grabbed eleven of the thirteen first service points and did not lose a single point on the second serve, claiming all the five second
service points in the opening set. On the other hand, Russell served poorly, committing a horrible five double faults and hitting just 39 percent of the first serves in the first set. The American was able to win just two of the eleven second service points
and none of the five second return points. The 33-year-old veteran failed to create any break point opportunity on Anderson’s serve and could not save two of the three break points on his own serve in the opening set.
In the second set, Anderson and the American broke each other once in the first ten games and equalised the score at 5-5. The South African broke Russell in the eleventh game and served out the set at 6-5.
The Johannesburg citizen continued to pound his huger serves, keeping his first serve percentage at 66 percent and delivering six aces in the second set. Anderson bagged fifteen of the 21 first service points and seven of the eleven
second service points. In comparison, Russell improved his first serve percentage as he hit a reasonable 68 percent of the first serves but the American managed to seal just four of the twelve second service points in the second set. Anderson could not save
the one break point he faced but capitalised on two of the five break point opportunities he created on Russell’s serve in the second set.
The South African is drawn to play world number 82 Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the quarterfinals. The Luxembourger beat wild card entrant Robby Ginepri in the second round.
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