Anderson reaches Nottingham quarters

Cape Town - SA tennis No 1 Kevin Anderson on Wednesday defeated Fernando Verdasco to reach the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open.

Anderson will next face No 6 seeded American Steve Johnson.

The top-seeded Anderson, who went 14-for-14 on first-serve points in the opening set, never faced break point and fired 18 aces to win consecutive ATP World Tour matches for the first time in 2016.

According to the official ATP World Tour website, Anderson improved to 2-2 in head-to-head meetings against the Spaniard and has only lost to the left-hander on clay.

The win is just Anderson's fifth of the season however as the 2.03m giant has struggled with left knee and right elbow injuries.

In October last year he reached a career-high of No 10 in the ATP Rankings. But the 30-year-old has since fallen to No 24 and was forced to retire from two matches and withdraw altogether from seven tournaments.

The Nottingham Open is the players' last chance to hone their grass-court game before Wimbledon starts next Monday.