Kevin Anderson has reached the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. In the quarter-finals, he beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic in three sets.
The first quarter-final on Friday in Madrid was a tight and top-class one. Dusan Lajovic, debutant on this stage and this stage of the tournament, faced South African Kevin Anderson.
Both players did not give themselves any nakedness at the beginning and remained harmless with their own service. Lajovic was the player who first showed nerves and offered his opponent the first chances to break. Anderson didn’t let me ask him twice and took the lead 4-2. However, the 2.03-metre giant also showed a small period of weakness and allowed Lajovic, who had defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the round before, to re-break.
A tiebreak should bring the decision in the opening set. This is a good sign for Lajovic, who has won all three tiebreaks in the tournament so far. The Serbian lacked this nerve power against the world’s number eight and was quickly trailing 3-0. Anderson remained focused, continued well with his strong forehand and turned his second set point into a 7-3 tiebreak.
The second round started like the first. Lajovic and Anderson looked confident on their own serve and served well in their service games. As a result, the Serbian outsider grew stronger and stronger and Anderson took the 4-2 lead with the generous help of the South African.
The current number 95 of the world could no longer take the lead and equalized with 6:3 in the sets.
In the third round, the Serbian experienced the exhausting matches in the previous rounds and Lajovic paid tribute to the great results. The 27-year-old’s tank seemed to be empty and Anderson on the other side won ten points in a row. Lajovic did not recover from a weak start to the final set and finally had to admit defeat 6:7 (3), 6:3 and 3:6.
This is Anderson’s first ever semi-final appearance in a 1000cc event.
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