Anderson Comes Back For Stockholm Success

Kevin Anderson fought back from a set and a break down to beat eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and advance to the second round of the If Stockholm Open on Monday. The South African broke Baghdatis at 3-4 in the second set and again at 5-4 to even the match.

Anderson fell behind a break in the third set as well but reeled off five straight games to upset the 2009 champion. “Things weren’t looking great… I fought through,” Anderson said. “I felt that if I could keep my mind a little bit and just take it one point at a time, I definitely was going to give myself a shot.”

He will next face American Ryan Harrison, who lost only seven of his first-serve points to knock out fellow qualifier Adam Pavlasek 6-3, 7-5. Harrison’s compatriots were less fortunate in Sweden.

Fifth seed Steve Johnson, No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, fell to Radu Albot of Moldova 6-3, 6-4 in 80 minutes. Albot, No. 103 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will play Swede wild card Elias Ymer, a member of the ATP Next Generation, or German qualifier Tobias Kamke in the second round. Frenchman Adrian Mannarino got the better of Donald Young 7-5, 6-4 and will next meet #NextGen star Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed.

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contender Gael Monfils leads the field at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament. Monfils is currently in sixth place in the Emirates ATP Race To London, 1,060 points ahead of eighth-placed Rafael Nadal. The top eight at the end of the season qualify for the year-ending championships, to be held 13-20 November at The O2 in London.

Who’s Chasing Nadal? View The Emirates ATP Race To London Standings