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Anderson outlasts Isner, moves on to Delray ITC finals
Kevin Anderson against John Isner Saturday at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.
By Palm Beach Business.com
DELRAY BEACH — In the Battle of the Aces at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, the margin between victory and defeat proved small.
A service break in the 11th game of the first set and a double fault by John Isner on the first serve of the tiebreaker was all South African Kevin Anderson needed to defeat the American 7-5, 7-6 in the semifinals Saturday night at the ITC. Anderson, meanwhile, played near flawless tennis.
“Today I thought I served incredibly better than my other matches,” Anderson said. “I knew I had to. I think maybe just playing against somebody who serves and volleys as well as John forced me and pushed me to pick up on my serving and I felt I matched him in that category.
“Some of the aces he hits and the angles he gets are incredible but I felt impulsive throughout.”
The match pitted two of the tallest players on the tour — Isner stands 6-10, while Anderson is 6-8 — and two of the biggest servers. The two lead the Delray tournament in aces, and have regularly exceeded 130 mph
Neither player gave up anything in the second set, but when the tiebreaker began, Isner’s serve failed him. Twice. Anderson, on the other hand, was perfect.
“The tiebreaker, I really picked it up quite a bit,” Anderson said. “I’m really, really pleased, happy to get through to the finals tomorrow. Definitely going to enjoy the moment a little now and get ready for tomorrow. I don’t need to do too much different. I’m feeling good. I’m just excited, that’s why you play. Each week you don’t always get the opportunity to go all the way through, so I’m just really excited to get that opportunity this week … ”
Anderson, the seventh seed, takes on unseeded Marinko Matosevic of Australia for the singles final Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m. At 1 p.m., the No. 3-seeded the British team of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins take on Michal Mertinak of Slovakia and Brazilian Andre Sa in the doubles finale.
Fleming and Hutchins defeated Mikhail Elgin of Russia and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6(6), 6-4 in Saturday’s semifinals. Mertinak and Sa were 6-4, 6-4 winners against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and Frank Moser of Germany.
Matosevic beat Dudi Sela of Israel 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(7) Saturday afternoon despite 12 double faults. It will be Matosevic first final on the ATP tour.
“He’s had some tough ones this week against some really good guys,” Anderson said of Matosevic. “He’s played some big servers, so I’m definitely going to have to be on my game tomorrow.”
The No. 3-seeded the British team of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins defeated Mikhail Elgin of Russia and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6(6), 6-4 in Saturday’s semifinals.
