Kevin Anderson rallies past Xavier Malisse into the quarterfinals – Delray Beach International 2012
World number 36, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, overcame two-time former champion, Xavier Malisse, in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the Delray Beach International in Florida, USA on Thursday.
Anderson snatched a break in the fourth game of the first set and held his next serve to build a 4-1 lead. The South African capitalised on it and served out the set at 5-3.
The 6ft 8in tall bombarded his opponent with six aces. Anderson pressurised the Belgian on the second serve, converting eight of the 12 of them into points.
The same flow was followed in the second set but this time it was in Malisse’s favour. The Belgian struck in the fourth game and did not allow Anderson to get back, winning the set 6-3.
Malisse was erratic on his first serve, delivering just 39 percent of them. However, the Belgian won 10 of the 11 points on them. Ranked 66th in the world, Malisse did not give Anderson any opportunity to break his serve
and availed one of the two of his own in the second set.
In the decider, Anderson and Malisse held their serves in the first five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of the South African. Anderson hit the final blow as made a breakthrough in the sixth and availed it to seal the
set 6-3.
Both players had below par serve statistics in the final set. Anderson failed to hit any ace and committed a couple of double faults. Each of them delivered 46 percent of the first serves. The only difference between the two was
the conversion rate, as the South African clinched 11 of the 12 of them.
Interacting with the reporters after the match, Anderson commented, "I thought it really gusty, really windy, and it wasn't easy to get a good rhythm. I thought it was tough for both of us because we couldn't play the kind of tennis
we wanted to play."
The Johannesburg, South Africa resident will play fourth seed Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Roddick outclassed Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round.
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