Finals Contender Anderson Into Stockholm QFs

South African Kevin Anderson stepped up his bid on Thursday for one of the four remaining places at the Nitto ATP Finals when he knocked out #NextGenATP South Korean Hyeon Chung 6-3, 6-2 for a place in the Intrum Stockholm Open quarter-finals. The second seed struck 18 aces and won 28 of his 32 first-service points to improve to a 32-18 mark on the season.

“In the beginning I felt I was hitting the ball great and I was creating opportunities,” said Anderson. “He was hanging in there and it took me quite a few attempts to break serve. He defends so well and is a great athlete, so for me to come off the court with that scoreline feels good.” He will next face Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Anderson, this year’s US Open and Citi Open finalist, is at No. 12 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 2,450 points — 155 points behind ninth-placed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, who sits in the final qualification berth for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Chung is No. 8 in Emirates ATP Race To Milan for a spot at next month’s inaugural 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals with 760 points, having been overtaken by Russian Daniil Medvedev (772 points) who won today at the VTB Kremlin Cup. Medvedev knocked out Carreno Busta in Moscow.

Fifth-seeded German wild card Mischa Zverev will take on top seed and 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria or Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz after he moved past Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3.

Elsewhere, seventh-seeded Japanese Yuichi Sugita recorded his 22nd match win of a career-best season by knocking out 2009 champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in one hour and 49 minutes. The Antalya Open titlist will now face fourth seed and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday.

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