Kevin Anderson came within a whisker of a rare “double bagel” at the ATP Finals when he trounced Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-0 6-1 at London’s 02 Arena on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old debutant at the ATP’s blue riband event won the first 11 games of the round-robin clash before a relieved Nishikori finally got on the scoreboard with an angled winner.
Normal service was quickly resumed though as Anderson closed out victory thanks to a 24th unforced error by Nishikori.
Anderson, the first South African to qualify for the eight-man event since 1995, has made it two wins from two round-robin matches with a stunning display.
Only six-times champion Roger Federer has enjoyed a 6-0 6-0 victory at the season-ending tournament, that coming in 2005 in Shanghai against unfortunate Argentine Gaston Gaudio.
“Amongst the best I’ve played,” Anderson told reporters when asked to rate his 64-minute masterclass.
“Getting off to a really good start. I think I did a really good job constantly applying the pressure and not letting up.
“Today, I kept at it the whole time. I just felt I returned really well, made him hit a lot of shots off his serve.”
Even when a set and 3-0 to the good, however, Anderson said he never relaxed.
“Sometimes it’s tough if you have a very dominating set, you often see scorelines that momentum can change,” he said.
“Even going up 3-0 in the second set, hypothetically he holds and then gets a break. It almost works against you some ways if you have a really good lead.
“I felt I did a fantastic job throughout really. Even though I had a lead, I felt a sense of urgency throughout which I thought was really important because I wanted to get that win.”
What made it all the more impressive was that Nishikori had beaten Federer in straight sets on Sunday and that Anderson had trailed the Japanese 5-3 in their head-to-head record.
Anderson, who opened with a straight sets win against Dominic Thiem, tops the Lleyton Hewitt group and will reach the semi-finals if Thiem beats Federer later on Tuesday.
Despite the crushing defeat Nishikori will still have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals if he beats Dominic Thiem on Thursday.
“For me, it was one of the worst days in the year,” he said. “He was playing well, serving well and returning well, too.
“He played good and it just wasn’t my day today. I need to try to forget about today. Something was wrong, I’ve got to fix it tomorrow and try to be positive for the next one.”
