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Cape Town - Fourth-seeded South African and 2018 finalist Kevin Anderson clobbered Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 In the Wimbledon opener - and, in the process, handed the French multi-Grand Slam doubles champion a timely and deserved eye-opener.
In a revealing sideshow to the main business at hand, the 28-year-old Herbert had demonstrated following a number of improved singles performances this year a glaring lack of loyalty towards Nicolas Mahut by declining to play with his long-time and successful partner in the Wimbledon doubles.
The reasoning was that at this advanced stage of his career Herbert intended to concentrate on his singles game in what he believed was a new vein for potential success.
Well and good, but lo and behold when England's popular Andy Murray, returning from hip surgery that threatened to end his career, asked the Frenchman to partner him in doubles as he made a tentative return to major competition, Herbert forgot all about his abandonment of Mahut and jumped at the opportunity.
Clearly, judging on Anderson's comprehensive superiority over him in all departments on Monday, Herbert should do an immediate about-turn and resume the partnership with Mahut that enabled him to acquire at one point a world No 2 doubles ranking - that is if Mahut, openly unhappy with his former partner's ungainly jumping the fence, will now have him.
In the meantime, Mahut has teamed up with another Frenchman, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, at Wimbledon and Herbert plays with Murray, with the fortunes of both pairings followed with more than curious interest.
As for Anderson, who has enjoyed a minimum amount of success this year while hampered by a lingering elbow injury and was somewhat surprising and fortunate to gain a fourth seeding as a consequence, he admitted he had gone into the Wimbledon tournament with some misgivings and was delighted with his opening round performance.
After a tentative start in which he trailed Herbert 0-40 in the opening game, the imposing 6ft 8in South African was dominant in all respects, completing overshadowing Herbert.
Anderson, with what appears on the surface a reasonably sympathetic draw, on Wednesday comes up in the second round against 35-year-old Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who has reached a world ranking of eighth, but is now on the comeback trail and languishing in the 250s after an intermittent absence of several years involving surgery on seven occasions.
