Djokovic Makes Short Work Of Tall Anderson To Move Into The Third Round

What was billed as a difficult match turned out to be a mismatch. Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4 6-2 without any difficulty.

Djokovic had it easy against the difficult opponent in Kevin Anderson. He moved Anderson  side to side and created gaps. The big serve of Anderson was often returned. Anderson was not able to match him in the ground strokes. Djokovic was serving first serves at a high 74% in the first set. He won the set 6-3 in 30 minutes.

Anderson went for the big serves to win his service games in the second set. He served at a high 75%, but whenever he did not succeed with his serve, he mostly lost. Djokovic was impeccable in both defence and attack. He raised the percentage of first serves to 85%. When Djokovic went down 0-30 while serving out the second set at 5-4, Anderson could see a ray of light. But Djokovic shut the door in emphatic style.

Anderson was finding that his frame of 6 ft-8 inches was more a liability than strength as he was often caught on the wrong foot. He might have made a good impact against some baseliner who could play only long rallies. But Djokovic was someone who was able to sense the weaknesses of his opponent and exploit them effectively. In the process, Anderson was looking a one dimensional player. Even in the baseline rallies, he was often unbalanced while hitting the shots. Such shots were mostly going beyond lines.

Anderson was broken in the very first game of the third set. One of the reasons why he could not reach the balls was that he stood much behind the base line. It is in sharp contrast to somebody like Venus Williams who utilizes her good height by standing inside the baseline while receiving serve. Anderson stood where generally Nadal stands on a clay court. He was a sitting duck for drop shots.

While serving at 3-2 with break of serve, Djokovic became casual in the sixth game and committed two consecutive unforced errors to go down 0-30. Anderson got a double  break point soon but when he failed to capitalise on the golden opportunity, it became clear that he could win only if Djokovic chose to lose. Djokovic won his service game and broke immediately to go up 5-2. But just as the end was in sight, Djokovic committed two double faults. Anderson got two break points but it was not his day. Djokovic served out the set to win the match 6-3 6-4 6-2 in less than two hours. .

Anderson can take solace in that there was no shame in losing to the hottest player on the tour.