Kevin Anderson (Gallo)

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Top local tennis player Kevin Anderson proclaimed shortly before the start of he current US Open that he needed to work on his "mind game" in order to hold his own with some of the world's best players.

And how successful the 6ft 8in big-server has been in this respect was evident in a torrid 6-7 (4) 6-4 5-7 6-4 7-6 (2) second round win over Brazil's up-and-coming 26th seeded Thomaz Bellucci which lasted almost four hours in oppressive heat where the court temperature at Flushing Meadows exceeding the 40 degree mark.

In the process, Anderson ended the long drought of South African male players in grand slam events by becoming the first local player since the Wayne Ferreira era almost a decade ago to progress into the third round of one of tennis's elite four major tournaments.

Ferreira, of course, went as far as the semi-final stage during an illustrious career that earned him a sixth position world ranking - and Anderson currently at 77th position, but sure to climb substantially as a result of his US Open feats - has some way to go before scaling these heights.

But he sees his victory over Bellucci as a watershed achievement - not only because he overcame a talented opponent and the testing conditions, but also in that he triumphed over himself and held his nerve in the fateful, nail-biting final set win which was decided by a resounding 7-2 winning margin in the tiebreaker.

"It was the kind of game I have in the past often faltered frustratingly at the final hurdle," he added, "and removing the monkey off my back is what made the ultimate success all that sweeter."

Anderson now faces the in-form Richard Gasquet in the third round after the sweet-stroking Frenchman's resounding straight-set win over sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Considered to have one of the best single-handed backhands in the world, Gasquet is a past Wimbledon semi-finalist and former world top tenner who, in his mid-20s, still has time to fulfil his vast potential and become one of the world's leading half-dozen players.

But the Frenchman too has been prone in the past to fall foul of the "mind games" in tough situations and this will provide Anderson with a glimmer of hope.

Collated results of Friday's matches at the US Open tennis (x denotes seed):

Women

Samantha Stosur (AUS x5) bt Sara Errani (ITA) 6-2, 6-3

Elena Dementieva (RUS x12) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x24) 7-5, 6-2

Kim Clijsters (BEL x2) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x27) 6-3, 6-0

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x20) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 6-1, 6-2

Francesca Schiavone (ITA x6) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 6-1, 7-5

Ana Ivanovic (SRB) bt Virginie Razzano (FRA) 7-5, 6-0

Venus Williams (USA x3) bt Mandy Minella (LUX) 6-2, 6-1

Shahar Peer (ISR x16) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA x19) 6-4, 6-4

Men

Tommy Robredo (ESP) bt Julien Benneteau (FRA) 6-4, 6-6 retired

Michael Llodra (FRA) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-2

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6)

Andy Murray (GBR x4) bt Dustin Brown (JAM) 7-5, 6-3, 6-0

David Ferrer (ESP x10) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x12) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7/2)

John Isner (USA x18) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4

Feliciano Lopez (ESP x23) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2

Fernando Verdasco (ESP x8) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x25) by Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4

Sam Querrey (USA x20) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

David Nalbandian (ARG x31) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2

Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x29) 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3

Nicolas Almagro (ESP x14) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5