WINSTON-SALEM — Second-seeded South African Kevin Anderson locked up his sixth ATP quarterfinal berth of the season on Wednesday with a straight-sets win over Jerzy Janowicz at Winston-Salem.
With the US Open less than a week away, Anderson kept his campaign going at this hard-court tune-up with a 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 victory over Poland’s Janowicz, the runner-up last year to Czech Lukas Rosol.
“I was really pleased with today’s performance,” said Anderson, who fired 17 aces and saved all three break points he faced. “It was an improvement from yesterday. I served well today, I took care of my own service games. When you’re playing a big server like Jerzy that’s one of the most important aspects.”
Anderson next faces 18-year-old Croatian Borna Coric, who needed only 57 minutes to rout Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6-2 6-1.
Coric, who toppled Andy Murray in his most recent hard-court quarterfinal in Dubai, will be seeking the fifth victory of his career against a top-20 player.
In the other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw, sixth-seeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci meets Tunisian Malek Jaziri.
Among the upsets, 13th-seeded American Steve Johnson beat third-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7/4).
AFP