JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Kevin Anderson beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets 6-3 7-5 7-5 in their men’s third round match at Wimbledon on Friday.
Though the scoreline suggested a dominant win for the eighth-seeded Anderson, it was a closely fought affair. Anderson though, demonstrated impressive big match temperament to win the crucial points and secure his passage into the next round. The world number eight was also helped in no small part by winning 87 percent of points on his first serve.
Anderson raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first set after breaking his opponent’s first service game of the match. That break would prove pivotal, as Anderson managed to serve out the set 6-3.
It appeared to be one-way traffic in the first game of the second set, as Anderson broke Kohlschreiber’s service at the first time of asking, again. Anderson, however, lost his service in the following game as the scores were locked at 1-1. At 5-5, the set seemed to be heading for a tiebreak when Anderson found a crucial break of serve to go up 6-5 with his service game to come. A pumped-up Anderson produced a power service game to serve it out to love and take a 2-0 lead in sets.
Philipp Kohlschreiber returns to Kevin Anderson during their third round match at Wimbledon on Friday. Photo: Gerry Penny/EPA
In the tird set, the pair could not be separated until the score was 5-5. Having wasted a couple of break points, Anderson found himself 30-40 up. On a Kohlschreiber second serve out wide, Anderson mis-timed his return which grazed the top of the net and dropped just over the net on his opponent’s side as the South African grabbed a virtual match-point.
Anderson had little problem in serving out the game to progress to the last 16 of the tournament.