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Anderson: It was the match of my life

Cape Town - South Africa’s Kevin Anderson was elated after upsetting British third seed Andy Murray to reach the US Open quarter-finals in New York on Monday (US time).

The South African No 1 upset Murray 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/0) to reach his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final.

"It was the match of my life," Anderson said after the match. "This is a great accomplishment for me."

The victory was extra sweet for Anderson, who had stumbled at the fourth round stage at a major championship no fewer than seven times.

Murray entered the match with 5-1 win-loss record against Anderson, with the South African’s lone victory coming at a Masters 1000 event in Canada in 2011.

However, Anderson has played well in recent weeks and entered the US Open on the back of a third career title, beating Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Winston-Salem final.

That title was a major confidence booster for Anderson, considering the fact that he had lost all seven finals he contested since his last tournament victory at Delray Beach in 2012.

He came out storming against the Scot, blasting 81 winners compared to only 57 unforced errors. Murray had only 49 winners against 20 unforced errors.

Anderson, 29, will now face French Open champion Stan Wawarinka in the quarter-finals, after the Swiss reached the last eight with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over American Donald Young.

Anderson will feel he has a real shot against Wawrinka, considering the fact that he has beaten him the last four times they have played.

Wawrinka had won the pair’s first three meetings, but the South African has bossed their last four encounters, the most recent being a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (13/11) win at the Queen’s Club grasscourt event in London in June this year.

Before that, Anderson had also notched wins over Wawrinka at the indoor Masters 1000 event in Paris (2014), as well as last year’s Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Indian Wells.

The winner of the Anderson-Wawrinka match could possibly face 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

The Swiss maestro will face Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals. 

US Open results on Monday, the eighth day of the 2015 tournament at Flushing Meadows (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Fourth round

Stan Wawrinka (SUI x5) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Kevin Anderson (RSA x15) bt Andy Murray (GBR x3) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/0)

Richard Gasquet (FRA x12) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x6) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1

Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt John Isner (USA x13) 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (8/6), 7-5

Women

Fourth round

Petra Kvitova (CZE x5) bt Johanna Konta (GBR) 7-5, 6-3

Flavia Pennetta (ITA x26) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS x22) 6-4, 6-4

Victoria Azarenka (BLR x20) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 6-3, 6-4

Simona Halep (ROM x2) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER x24) 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-2

Mixed doubles

Quarter-finals

Martina Hingis/Leander Paes (SUI/IND x4) bt Simona Halep/Horia Tecau (ROM) - walkover

Yung-Jan Chan/Rohan Bopanna (TPE/IND x2) bt Su-Wei Hsieh/Henri Kontinen (TPE/FIN) 7-6 (9/7), 5-7, 13-11

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