Anderson advances in Nottingham

Cape Town - Top seed Kevin Anderson on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Nottingham Open with a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 win over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig.

According to the official ATP World Tour website, the South African No 1 hit 21 aces and never faced a break point in the two-hour and six-minute contest.

The win is just Anderson's fourth of the season however as the 2.03m giant has struggled with left knee and right elbow injuries.

In October last year he reached a career-high of No 10 in the ATP Rankings. But the 30-year-old has since fallen to No 24 and was forced to retire from two matches and withdraw altogether from seven tournaments.

Anderson next will face 14th seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who beat Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Verdasco is coming off one of his biggest wins of the season last week when he beat World No 5 Stan Wawrinka at The Queen's Club in London.

The Nottingham Open is the players' last chance to hone their grass-court game before Wimbledon starts next Monday.