Second-seeded Kevin Anderson used a dominant service game to oust Sam Groth 6-3, 6-2 Thursday night in the Memphis Open. Anderson of South Africa, ranked 15th in the world, won 24 of 25 first-serve points while mixing in a half dozen aces to defeat the Australian in 1 hour. In the evening match, Anderson, who received a first-round bye, used early breaks in both sets to contol the match against Groth, ranked 70th in the world. Anderson said he concentrated on holding serve and benefitted from breaks in the fourth game of the first set and the third game of the second.
”He missed a couple of first serves, and I was able to capitalize on some of the second serves,” Anderson said, adding: ”It was nice getting those breaks in both sets and pretty early on as well.”
The match featuring a pair of big servers was expected to be closer. Anderson said the tournament’s main court was quicker than ones where he practiced. Realizing the difference, he concentrated more on Groth’s serve.
”It’s always really important to just keep being aggressive,” Anderson said. ”As soon as you take a back step, you’re going to put yourself in trouble.”
Australian Bernard Tomic fired nine aces past Alexandr Dolgopolov in ousting the fourth-seeded Ukranian 6-1, 7-5 to reach the ATP Memphis Open quarter-finals. The German-born 22-year-old dispatched 23rd-ranked Dolgopolov in only 66 minutes to book a date in the final eight against Donald Young, who eliminated fellow American Denis Kudla 7-5, 6-3.
Tomic’s win was the biggest upset of the $585,000 (512,000 euros) indoor hard-court event.
“I played pretty good the first set,” Tomic said. “After that was a roller-coaster, but I managed to stay in it and winning the second set was important. I was down a break 4-1. I said to myself, ‘It’s only one break. Stay in there and have a shot’ and it worked for me.”
Tomic, ranked 49th, improved to 3-5 all-time against Dolgopolov. He had won their most recent prior matchup in last year’s Sydney quarter-finals and in a five-set battle in the third round of the 2012 Australian Open.
Tomic has now reached the quarter-finals in three of his four tournaments in 2015.
“I’m focusing, I’m trying my best,” he said. “I need to improve a lot — I’m ready for that challenge.”
Samuel Groth vs Kevin Anderson, 13/02/2015, 01:15 GMT, Match Center
Bernard Tomic vs Alexandr Dolgopolov, 12/02/2015, 18:40 GMT, Match Center
Memphis Open: Anderson defeats Groth, Tomic ousts Dolgopolov
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