Kevin Anderson defeats Dudi Sela; advances to the quarter-final at SA Open
Kevin Anderson beat Dudi Sela to advance to the quarter-final of the South African Open. The fourth seeded South African defeated his opponent in straight sets, ending the match at 6-2 and 6-4. His skills and sheer brilliance were
of no match to the Israeli, resulting in a relatively easier victory.
Anderson belted 13 aces to the opponent’s court who responded with only one during the match. The key feature to the African’s win was his aggressive stroke play stringed to the limited unforced errors throughout the match. He
provided only one break point to his rival and but backed it up with good positive tennis. He converted four of the five breaking chances he got from Dudi Sela during the match.
“It definitely felt pretty good out there,” said the winner, “I wasn’t on edge, I felt very comfortable. I didn’t give him any chances on my service games.”
The South African broke Sela serve twice in the first set, pushing his opponent to a point of no return. His first serve percentage was also impressive as it can be judged by the number of aces he hit in the match.
Anderson’s competitor was struggling to get his rhythm right. He assisted the African in his victory by his plenty of unforced errors and unnecessary shots. His hits were missing their marks and it looked difficult for him to contain
the ball within the court lines. He continuously spilled out break points in the match which totalled to five in the end. He ultimately lost the set to Anderson at 2-6.
Having ended the first set on a high note, Anderson carried on his momentum into the second set. He continued serving well and committed lesser number of unforced errors. His aggression was equally met by the opponent in the second
set.
Sela started to show some class but perhaps it was too late for him. He hit a break point on Anderson’s serve and won some good rallies. He tried to break the rival’s momentum by some aggressive shot play but his lack of accuracy
didn’t allow him to do so. His smashes were not landing on the accurate spots.
Despite being broken early in the second set, Anderson held his nerves to excel over Sela. He bounced back with another break point and then sealed victory to his name. In his post match reviews, Anderson told that he is willing
to carry on his momentum to the rest of the tournament and keep enjoying his game of tennis. He will be taking on Karol Beck, the Slovak, in the quarter-final.
Tags: