Publications
Partners
Cape Town - South African tennis star Kevin Anderson will open his US Open campaign against unseeded American Ryan Harrison.
ALSO READ: Federer, Djokovic could meet in US Open quarter-finals
Anderson is the fifth seed for the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in New York where he will be looking to emulate his run to the final last year.
The 32-year-old lost last year’s final to world No 1 Rafael Nadal and was on Thursday drawn in the same half of the draw as the Spaniard.
If both players progress as their seedings suggest, they will meet in the quarter-finals.
Anderson, however, will have to negotiate a tricky quarter as players like the ninth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, 19th-ranked Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and 28th-seeeded Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov could lie in wait.
America’s Sam Querrey, who Anderson defeated in the quarter-finals last year, and big-hitting Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, are other dangerous opponents that could potentially block Anderson’s path.
But first up is world No 56 Harrison, a player against whom Anderson boasts a 2-1 head-to-head win-record.
All three of their encounters were played on hard courts, with Harrison winning the most recent encounter 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7/2) in Tokyo last year.
Anderson won 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in Atlanta in 2013 and 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 in Stockholm in 2016.
Great to be back! #usopen pic.twitter.com/JKVh4Yg7o1
— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) August 23, 2018
