Share

Anderson eyes Wimbledon

Johannesburg - After another near-miss in the French Open, top South African tennis player Kevin Anderson is looking to Wimbledon to make an elusive quarter-final breakthrough for the first time in Grand Slam tournaments.

"I tried my best out there," said 28 year-old Anderson after his 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, (5/7), 6-1 fourth round defeat against Spain's relentless fifth-seed David Ferrer at Roland Garros.

"He doesn't let up at all. The pressure is always on, particularly when playing on his favoured clay court surface. Now it's onto the grass at Wimbledon where I should hopefully be more at home."

However, while the big-serving Anderson reached a last 16, fourth round, Grand Slam place for the fourth time - twice at the Australian Open and now twice at the French Open - his results in tennis's pinnacle four tournaments have been least impressive at Wimbledon.

On three occasions, his nemesis in the majors has been Ferrer, who also halted Anderson's progress in last year's French Open, as well as the US Open at Flushing Meadows in 2012.

In all, Anderson has managed only one set against the nine won by Ferrer in their Grand Slam meetings. The latest intriguing battle between the pair had all the trappings of another David and Goliath encounter, as the diminutive Ferrer fired an incessant barrage of ground strokes with the precision and power of a sling shot.

At 6ft 8in, Anderson towered over the 5ft 9in Ferrer when the players received the traditional briefing at the net from the umpire before the match started.

Despite serving nine aces and hitting 42 outright winners, Anderson was outplayed in three of the four sets by a player who simply refused to make unforced errors.

Breaking Anderson's service at all is no mean feat. Ferrer, however, managed to do it seven times.

"I played my best tennis in the first two sets and, although he came back strongly in the third set, I felt he was tiring in the fourth set when I was physically stronger," Ferrer said afterwards.

Anderson, nevertheless, felt he had emerged with a lot of positives from the French Open and was now looking forward to the grass-court season with renewed confidence.

But it is the pocket-sized dynamo Ferrer who goes forward to a quarter-final clash at Roland Garros against perennial eight-times champion Rafael Nadal in a repeat of last year's final.

Anderson, meanwhile, will be looking ahead and hoping for his best-ever Wimbledon result to end his quarter-final bogey.

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% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 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