NEW YORK - South Africa’s Kevin Anderson hopes to continue his strong run in the US Open when he faces Croatian Borna Coric in their third round match in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Friday.
Anderson completed his second straight-sets victory in a row with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis on Wednesday, and the SA player is looking in good form once again in a grand slam event.
“It was great getting through my match today in straight sets," Anderson said. "Ernest is a very tricky player. He’s had a lot of success in the past. He has a big serve and is very consistent on the backhand,” said Anderson after his match.
“You don’t want to give him too much time, and I thought I did a great job of taking care of my serve games. I was down in a couple games, 0-30s, 15-30s. I then played some of my best tennis in those moments.
“It feels great to get through to the third round of a slam. My goal is to keep going.”
Anderson had his best run in a grand slam event at the US Open in 2015 where he reached the quarter-finals, beating Britain’s Andy Murray along the way.
The 28th-seeded Anderson will also be relieved to avoid a match-up with Germany’s Alexander Zverev, as the South African has lost all four of their previous meetings.
Instead, Anderson will face Coric, 20, who he has beaten twice.
“In my next match I’ll be taking on Coric, he took out Alexander Zverev - one of the hottest players at the moment - so that was a bit of an upset. Zverev has beaten me, it would have been nice to have a rematch with him, but I’m sure that opportunity will come down the line.
“But I’m up against a very tough opponent in Borna. I’ve played against him a few times, but it was a couple years ago so he’s a different player now. He moves well and has heavy groundstrokes. I will look to impose my game as much as possible. It will be a good match and I’m looking forward to it.”