A first US Open semi-final berth on the line; for Kevin Anderson, a maiden Grand Slam semi-final spot up for grabs. On Tuesday, it was the South African who made the breakthrough with a 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-6(7) triumph over Sam Querrey.
What a resurgence it has been. An injury-ravaged 2016 saw the 31 year old start the season at No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. His frustrations would not end there with hip, leg and right elbow problems stunting him at various points of the season.
“It was an incredible match,” Anderson said. “Matches like that, you sort of focus on getting through right there and then and look at the bigger picture afterwards. I have put in a lot of work. It definitely feels good that I have reached some milestone that I haven't before.”
That milestone makes Anderson the first South African since Wayne Ferreira (Australian Open 2003) through to a Grand Slam semi-final, and the first through to a US Open semi-final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965. The messages of support from his compatriots had already started pouring in.
“I have got a tonne of messages from friends and family back home,” he said. “My biggest hope is that I'm able to inspire kids to play the sport. It's very tough coming from South Africa, far from the scene. It makes me feel good that I can hopefully fly a flag and show kids that if you work hard you can get there.
“I just breezed through my phone. I saw a message from Wayne Ferreira, which is great … I saw a quick message from Ernie Els, one of the golfing legends, Louis Oosthuizen, a couple of golfers I've met just from our location in Florida. I just heard I'm the first South African in the Open Era to get to the semis here – my first sort of South African record. I feel pretty proud about that.”
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Anderson will next take on No.12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta. One of them will reach their first Grand Slam final.
“We played recently. It was a tough match, really windy that day. Both of us struggled for rhythm,” Anderson said. “This is new ground for both of us. There will be adjustments we both have to make.”
On Tuesday, the 6'6” Querrey and 6’8” Anderson were meeting in the tallest Grand Slam quarter-final, semi-final or final of the Open Era. Querrey led the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 8-6, with contests split 1-1 in 2017.
Having reeled of the last five points to steal the first-set tie-break from 2/5 down against Querrey, Anderson again found himself trailing in the second set tie-break. Staring down five set points at 1/6, he was not about to go quietly, however. He survived three set points before saving a fourth with his 12th ace.
Pressure was beginning to weigh on the home hope. Querrey’s first double fault of the match drew scores level at 6/6 and the pair traded set-point opportunities before the American finally went on to lock it up on his eighth opportunity.
“I feel like that's where I was able to really reset,” Anderson said. “I would have been better off losing that tiebreak almost 7-1 than coming so close to actually being two sets to love up. I felt I did a fantastic job resetting. These matches, it just comes to a point here and there. Fortunately, I was able to win a couple more points than him tonight.”
"Even though I won that set, he came and just had three great service games, boom, boom, boom, and it kind of takes away your momentum a little bit," said Querrey. "I had a little momentum, but I didn't feel like I was, like, 'All right, now I'm going to get some looks', because he's got such a big game."
For the American, a second straight Grand Slam semi-final beckoned. If he were to pull off a repeat, he would again have to get past Anderson in five sets to get there, as he did in the fourth round at Wimbledon. After nearly 3.5 hours and closing in on 2am, it proved a bridge too far.
A 22nd ace would bring up match point for Anderson at 6/5 in the fourth-set tie-break. Querrey stayed alive and held a set point of his own before the South African would clinch the semi-final berth on a Querrey forehand long.
"He's tough to play against. He's so overly aggressive," said Querrey. "A lot of his balls were landing in. It's just tough. Just a couple points here and there. I thought he played really well in the big points.
"At the beginning of the week, if you said I would have made quarters, I probably would have signed up for that. I know that bottom half of the draw was open, but you can't say 63 guys blew an opportunity. Only one guy can go through, and Kevin's pretty tough."