Clambering into the stands – all 6’8” of him – to embrace his family and team, Kevin Anderson’s post-match celebration on Friday was more akin to that of the US Open champion than of a semi-final victor. There was more to it though than the elation of reaching a first Grand Slam final at age 31, after a four-set triumph over No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Granted it was arguably the best shot either man would have earned at reaching a Grand Slam final. But for Anderson, it was as much about the reward of having bounced back from a frustrating two years riddled with injuries. The South African started the season at No. 80 in the Emirates ATP...
Vintage Rafael Nadal was on full display on Friday at the US Open. Behind a bevy of bludgeoning blasts and a hyper-aggressive gameplan, the World No. 1 will play for his third title in New York after streaking past Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. Racing around the court and attacking off the ground with authority, Nadal secured his place in a fourth US Open final after two hours and 30 minutes. After dropping the opening set, Nadal sprinted to the finish line with a clinical performance, striking 45 winners, to just 20 unforced errors. In what has been a resurgent 2017 campaign, the Spaniard made a statement in his bid to finish the year atop the Emirates...
Kevin Anderson is through to his first Grand Slam final after beating Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in the US Open semi-finals on Friday in New York. Overcome with joy, Anderson climbed up to his supporters’ box to embrace his coach, Neville Godwin, and wife, Kelsey. The 28th-seeded Anderson will face either World No. 1 Rafael Nadal or 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s championship match. [ALSO LIKE] “I really don’t know what to say right now,” admitted Anderson in his on-court interview with ESPN. “I don’t know if the team hug is appropriate for the semis, but it felt the right thing to do. “These Grand Slams are tough. We’re privileged to play with some...
Perseverance pays off. Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau haven’t had the easiest of times in the past 18 months, but the pair have come good over the past three weeks and their red-hot form has carried them to their second Grand Slam championship crown at the US Open. Rojer and Tecau defeated Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-3 in the final at Flushing Meadows on Friday. It is the climax of a 10-match winning run for the duo, who came into the US Open on the back of their 15th tour-level team crown at the Winston-Salem Open. They have only dropped two sets during that period. “The key to the whole thing is you need to communicate and...
All or nothing. Ace or double fault. Sometimes break points are decided without the returner even touching the ball. Facing break points are inevitable at all levels of the game, with the server having to balance the aggression of a potential ace with the possibility of missing both serves and committing a double fault. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the current Top 20 players reveals a wide range of results in this important moment in a match, with the statistics dating from the beginning of the 2015 season to the 2017 US Open. John Isner is the only player in the current Top 20 to hit more than 100 aces on break points during the two-and-a-half-year period....