Anderson admits he was nervous
Playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal proved a bridge too far for Kevin Anderson as his hitherto glorious US Open sojourn came to an end at the hands of Stan Wawrinka, an easy 6-4 6-4 6-0 winner on Wednesday, in New York.
The fifth-seeded Swiss, a two-time Grand Slam winner, ended the match after just 107 minutes. The third set was a 6-0 rout, lasting 25 minutes with Anderson winning just five points. Overall, Anderson committed 42 unforced errors as he imploded on the big stage.
The 15th-seeded Anderson was attempting to become the first South African to reach the semi-finals in New York since Johan Kriek in 1980. He was also looking to secure a second win over a world top tenner in the same tournament for the first time.
Coming into the match, the Johannesburg-born Anderson defeated Wawrinka in their last four meetings at the Indian Wells, Canada and Paris Masters last year and at Queen’s this year.
Because of the threat of rain on Wednesday night, their match was moved to the Louis Armstrong Stadium from Arthur Ashe Stadium. The move favoured Anderson because he had defeated Murray there earlier in the week and his game seemed to thrive on the faster surface.
However, Anderson said afterwards that he had a learnt a few lessons from the encounter.
“It was really tough out there, [I] was maybe a little bit nervous just with the occasion and a lot of waiting around [and] switching courts,” said Anderson.
“I wasn’t really making too many inroads on his serve,” he admitted. [It] just obviously wasn’t meant to be today, I have got to take what I can.
“This week has been a great week for me…there [are] a lot of positives. I definitely know I can do better than I did today.
“My goal is always to give myself opportunities. I was able to capitalise on one of them, [a] big one, getting to the quarters in this event.
“That’s definitely something I can take with me. I want to put myself in this position again…today I didn’t feel like I gave myself the best shot of maybe going a little bit further.”
With this win, Wawrinka has qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the third year in a row, and a semi-final clash against compatriot Roger Federer on Friday -- Herman Gibbs
ANA