Kevin Anderson sneaks past Julien Benneteau in the semi-final – Apia International Sydney 2013
After two hours and 23 minutes of breath-taking tennis action, South Africa’s number one tennis player, Kevin Anderson, succeeded in overcoming the world number 35, Julien Benneteau, in the semi-final encounter of Apia International
Sydney. The local crowd witnessed a trilling contest on Friday afternoon, with both players displaying high quality game to earn a title shot. Anderson had to labour extremely hard in the match but eventually managed to settle the final score at, 3-6, 6-4,
7-6(8), in his favour.
It was an evenly matched contest, as both players hold subsequent spots in the ATP World Tour Rankings. 36th ranked Anderson wasn’t off to an ideal start and was struck by some early blows from the superior ranked Frenchman.
Benneteau pocketed the opening set convincingly but Anderson came back very strongly in the match to steal the show in the second set. With the contest levelled at one-all, the decider was anticipated to be a nail-biter and it actually proved to be one. After
an extended third set tie-breaker round, the South African contender finally managed to deliver the decisive blow and earned a spot in the final of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Sydney, Australia.
The most prominent feature of Anderson’s game was his phenomenal serve game. Although he delivered merely 58 per cent of his first serve on target, he banged 18 thudding aces to his opponent’s court. The 36th ranked
South African amazingly secured 55 out of 69 first serve points and broke the French serve two out of nine times to come out as the winner. His ability to absorb immense pressure at the critical moments of the match proved to be the clear difference between
the two contestants.
On the other hand, Benneteau’s 63 per cent precise first serve could yield him just 45 out of 61 points in the match. He had 10 break opportunities in the contest but frittered away seven of them cheaply before converting just
three. He went neck-to-neck with Anderson until the very last minute of the match but an all-important mini-break from the South African contestant in the tie-breaker round ended Benneteau’s voyage in Sydney.
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