ACAPULCO, Mexico – South African Kevin Anderson has kept up his good recent form by beating France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-4 to ease into the quarter-finals at the Mexican Open on Wednesday (Thursday morning SA time).
The world No 8 and fifth seed has been on a hot streak since winning the New York Open two weeks ago.
He now faces a tricky match against rising star Chung Hyeon from South Korea, who is coached by South Africa’s Neville Godwin, Anderson’s previous coach.
Earlier this year, Hyeon was the Australian Open surprise package when he became the first Korean player to reach a Grand Slam semi-final before retiring because of an injury, as Roger Federer went through to eventually claim the title and his 20th Grand Slam victory.
Anderson will hope to make his own breakthrough in the Grand Slams this year, after losing the US Open final to Rafael Nadal last year.