Anderson holds his nerve to reach Pune semis

Cape Town -  South Africa's Kevin Anderson has booked his place in the Maharashtra Open semi-finals in Pune on Thursday.

The South African number two seed, overcame seventh seed Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in three sets 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in their quarter-final clash.

During the match, Anderson hit the fastest serve so far at the Indian tournament, clocking 224 km/h.

Anderson will battle Benoit Paire of France in his semi-final after Benoit defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

READ: SA's Kevin Anderson hires new coach 

The 31-year-old, who made the final of the US Open in 2017, continues his steady preparations for the Australian Open, which gets under way on January 15.

Last weekend, Anderson clinched the 10th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.

He defeated Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) in the final to win the exhibition tournament.

Results from the ATP Maharashtra Open in Pune, India, on Thursday (x denotes seed):

Quarter-finals

Marin Cilic (CRO x1) bt Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA x8) 6-3, 6-2

Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Ricardo Ojeda Lara(ESP) 6-2, 6-3

Benoit Paire (FRA x4) bt Robin Haase (NED x5) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

Kevin Anderson (RSA x2) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ x7) 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2

Fast as a rocket! ??

Clocking 2?2?4? kmph, that was the fastest serve of #TataOpenMaharashtra till now! @KAndersonATP ?? ??#AdvantagePune #ATP #ATP250 #Tennis pic.twitter.com/si1hiluFfi

— Tata Open Maharashtra (@MaharashtraOpen) January 4, 2018