In the first major quarterfinal of his life, Kevin Anderson looked like he needed another day of rest.
The 29-year-old South African seemed a step slower and a shot behind the Swiss star across from him, Stan Wawrinka, a two-time major champion playing in his 11th major quarterfinal. As a result, Anderson’s celebrated quarterfinal contest was over quickly. In less than two hours, Wawrinka rolled, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.
“For sure the best match of the tournament for me. I was really happy the way I play,” Wawrinka said.
Anderson, the No. 15 seed, started the match with his tank on low, if not empty. He had spent a tournament-high four hours and 18 minutes on court Monday, beating No. 3 seed Andy Murray in four grueling sets, 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6. The emotional contest was Anderson’s first major breakthrough in 27 majors.
Against Murray, Anderson had hung with the Brit during rallies, combating one of the game’s finest baseliners. But against Wawrinka, Anderson sought to limit rallies and end points quickly. He tried to get his usual tally of free points off his serve, hitting 12 aces, and he also sought to serve and volley. But the South African struggled to land his first serve, making only 57 percent of his attempts. Wawrinka then feasted on the second serve of Anderson, who won only 37 percent of those points.
Anderson also hit nine double faults, including at least two on break points, helping Wawrinka break him five times.
When Anderson did land his first serve, Wawrinka often picked it up cleanly and struck deep returns that kept Anderson behind the baseline. Wawrinka kept him there with a mixture of skidding backhand slices that stayed low, forcing the 6-foot-8 Anderson to crouch and take a few extra steps.
“I was trying to be really aggressive on the return and make him play a mix or some slice, some aggressive play from the baseline,” Wawrinka said.
Other times, Wawrinka would push Anderson side to side, forcing the big man to lumber more steps than he cared to take.
Anderson ended the match with 42 unforced errors compared to Wawrinka’s 15. During the 25-minute third set, Anderson won just five points.
“Obviously wasn't meant to be today. Stan didn't make it easy. He was taking time, I felt, away from me. He was swinging out, and, you know, I was just a step slow,” Anderson said. “It's a very tough lesson for me today and, you know, it's difficult not to think about it, but obviously I have got to take what I can. This week has been a great week for me, the last two weeks. There are a lot of positives.”
Wawrinka reaches his second US Open semifinal in three years. He will face his Swiss countryman Roger Federer in a rematch of their French Open semifinal. Wawrinka won that match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.
The two have played 19 times lifetime, though, and Wawrinka has won just three of them. Federer looked perhaps better than ever against Richard Gasquet of France on Wednesday, but against Anderson, Wawrinka submitted his finest match in New York this year as well.
Anderson leaves the greatest major of his life, and hopefully more people know his name. A CNN headline earlier this week referred to him as “unknown.” Now he's a Grand Slam quarterfinalist.
