Perfect ending of his week in Vienna for Kevin Anderson (RSA/2) at the Erste Bank Open 500. He beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori (JPN/5) in the final 6-3, 7-6(3).
In the first set, the fourth game was the deciding one. Nishikori battled for nearly 15 minutes to hold his serve – to no avail. Anderson made good use of his sixth break point and went on to win the set 6-3.
Both players stayed on serve in the second set, thus the tie-break had to decide. There, Anderson got an early mini-break and never looked back again. The man from South Africa took the tie-break 7-4, winning the match and the tournament. It was Anderson’s first triumph at the ATP 500 level.
„Fantastic“
„The feeling is fantastic and it really means a lot to me“, said Anderson at the press conference afterwards. At the same time, Anderson announced that he still has a lot of goals for next year: “I’ve been saying for some time that I have my best tennis still in front of me. This year I saw how hard work pays off. At the beginning of the season I had some clear goals, like going to London and winning more tournaments. That worked out perfect and I still haven’t reached all of my goals.”
Nishikori focused on season finale
After the match, Nishikori answered the press’ questions composed: “I had a great week, that’s for sure. Kevin risked a lot and played well.” Yet, the disappointment was surely there: “Of course I am disappointed, but I’m in good shape and I hope that I can show that again next week.”