JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Kevin Anderson beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in four sets 2-6 7-6 7-6 6-3 in the first round of Wimbledon, in London, on Monday.
Serving down an intimidating 25 aces to the six of the 31st-seeded Spaniard, Anderson produced a top performance to book his spot in the next round. The 6ft8 Anderson boasted 80 percent of his first serve points won and hit 58 winners compared to the 33 of Verdasco during the match.
Anderson lost the first set comprehensively 6-2 as the Verdasco serve looked impenetrable. The big-serving Anderson, however, worked his way into the match in the second set and eventually won the tiebreak 7-5.
The third set also went to a tiebreak, where Anderson was down set points on a number of occasions. The 31-year-old rallied though to take the tiebreak 10-8.
The fourth set saw Anderson break the Spaniard’s for the first time in the match, before serving out the set to take it 6-3.
This season, a healthy Anderson had been on the comeback path whose big-hitting game thrives on hard and grass courts. More recently, he pulled out of the French Open during the fourth round, but seems to be in good shape once again. Anderson, reached a career-high ranking of 10th in October 2015. –
African News Agency