JOHANNESBURG – SA’s Kevin Anderson beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-7 6-3 6-4 in the second round of the men’s draw of Wimbledon in London on Thursday.
With the rain-interrupted match running over two days starting on Wednesday, the eighth-seeded Anderson started strongly winning over 80 percent of points on his first serve, as he claimed the first set 6-3 with just the one break of serve.
Seppi hit back to take the second set to a tiebreak, and claimed the breaker 7-5.
Kevin Anderson of South Africa serves to Andreas Seppi of Italy in their second round match at Wimbledon on Thursday. Photo: Nic Bothma/EPA
In the third set, Anderson broke in the eighth game to go 5-3 up. Serving for the set, Anderson went 40-0 up before his opponent fought back to 40-30. It was then that Anderson pulled out a strong second serve down the middle which Seppi mis-timed back into the net to conclude the set.
With the players locked at 1-1 in the fourth set, rain started to fall which forced the players off the court. They would only resume the next day on Thursday morning, and in the fifth game Anderson found the crucial break of serve.
At 5-4 up, Anderson duly served to love to take the set 6-4 and entry into the third round.