Anderson Stays Hot In Acapulco

Kevin Anderson and Hyeon Chung looked destined for a tie-break. Chung, one of the best returners in tennis, had broken Anderson to get back on serve and even the second set at 4-4.

But Anderson stayed focused. The fifth seed pumped himself up with a “Come on,” and on break point, he grabbed control right back from Chung, smashing a forehand up the line for the break. A game later, Anderson served out the match to reach his third semi-final of the season 7-6(5), 6-4.

“I felt the first set was really touch and go. I had to save quite a few break points. I felt I played some of my best tennis down on those break points. I think that first-set tie-break was really key,” Anderson said. “[In the second set] I did very well to reset, break him straight back at 4-all to go 5-4, and then played a good serve game to serve it out.”

Anderson saved six of seven break points against Chung, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion. The South African will try to reach his third final (Pune, New York) of the year when he meets 21-year-old Jared Donaldson of the U.S., who will be playing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final.

Donaldson dismissed Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-1 in only 54 minutes. To say Donaldson was dominant on serve would be an understatement. The American won 100 per cent of his first-serve points (20/20) and 86 per cent of his second-serve offerings (12/14). In his three matches in Acapulco, Donaldson has dropped only 12 games.

“It’s a great start to the tournament so far. I feel like I’ve played really well throughout the week, and I think it has showed a great maturity to my game and how much I’ve improved,” Donaldson said.

DID YOU KNOW?
Anderson has the fourth-highest Infosys Serve Rating at 301.4, according to the ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys NIA Data.