Share

Anderson reaches Round 4

London - Kevin Anderson has admitted he was thrilled to become the first South African man to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for 14 years with a 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Italian 16th seed Fabio Fognini on Friday.

Anderson fought back from two sets to one down to emulate Wayne Ferreira's run to the last 16 in 2000 and in the process secured only his second win over a top 20 seed in a Grand Slam.

The 28-year-old, seeded 20th, will play defending champion Andy Murray for a place in the quarter-finals.

Anderson last year became the first South African man since Ferreira in 2004 to reach the Wimbledon third round and the world number 18 has now gone one better to equal his best ever performance at the Grand Slams after also reaching the last 16 at the French and Australian Opens.

"It's fantastic. Feels great to be through, being in the second week of Wimbledon is fantastic," Anderson said.

"I've been in the fourth round a couple of times at the Australian and French and fell a round short here last year.

"But just starting this week I felt like I was feeling good on grass. It's been a very enjoyable tournament for me so far.

"Today was a crazy match, so many ups and downs playing against a tricky opponent.

"I've been facing the challenges that I've had so far and dealing with little scenarios within the matches as well."

Kevin Curren holds the record for best performance by a South African man at Wimbledon, reaching the semi-finals in 1983.

Curren later finished as Wimbledon runner-up in 1985 while representing the United States.

If Anderson is to emulate Curren's 1983 feat, he will have to hope his back holds up after lengthy treatment during the first set.

"It was weird. I think I was a little nervous going out, my first time being in this position at Wimbledon, and I just got a little stiff and it affected the serve warming up," Anderson said.

"The more nervous I got the worse the back felt. Fortunately it settled down.

"It wasn't a factor. I'm definitely happy that I've got two days off to get better.

"Fortunately I have a very good team with me. My physio has already taken a look and it's nothing to worry about."

Anderson also had to deal with the antics of the notoriously volatile Fognini, who was given a warning for racquet abuse in the second set just days after being fined $27 500 for threating to attack a Wimbledon official and damaging the court with his racquet.

"You're not sure what you're going to get," he said of facing Fognini.

"It lived up to what I thought it was going to be like, a lot of talking

"Personally I just think that's the way he copes with some of the stress of being out on the tour.

"Regardless of what's going on you have to play and beat him.

"I did expect that a little going into the match, so I definitely felt a bit more prepared to deal with it."

Wimbledon results on Friday, the fifth day of the 2014 championships at the All England Club (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Third round
Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x14) bt Jimmy Wang (TPE) 6-2, 6-2, 7-5
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-0
Marin Cilic (CRO x26) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x6) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6)
Andy Murray (GBR x3) bt Roberto Bautista (ESP x27) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Kevin Anderson (RSA x20) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA x16) 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x11) bt Aleksandr Dolgopolov (UKR x21) 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) bt Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3

Second round
Feliciano Lopez (ESP x19) bt Ante Pavic (CRO) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5
Jerzy Janowicz (POL x15) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 4-6, 6-3
Santiago Giraldo (COL) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP x30) 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-1, 7-5

Women

Third round
Tereza Smitkov (CZE) bt Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 10-8
Lucie Safarova (CZE x23) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x10) 6-4, 6-2
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS x22) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA) 7-5, 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x4) bt Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) 6-2, 6-0
Petra Kvitova (CZE) bt Venus Williams (USA) 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5
Peng Shuai (CHN) bt Lauren Davis (USA) 0-6, 6-3, 6-3
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x16) bt Ana Konjuh (CRO) 6-3, 6-0
Barbora Zhalavova Strycova (CZE) bt Li Na (CHN x2) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5)

Second round
Simona Halep (ROM x3) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt Victoria Duval (USA) 6-4, 7-5

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1118 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1283 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 1978 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE